(Ir)Responsible
by oumriel
Summary: After twelve years apart, Ace finds himself drawn to the brother he wants nothing to do with. Luffy is loud, hard to manage, and clingy to boot. But somehow, he finds his way through Ace's defenses anyway. AceLu, slow-burn, modern!AU.
1. Chapter 1

Modern AU where Luffy and Ace are real!brothers that were separated pretty young. FamilyFic, kind of. Yeah, probably not too much heavy stuff. I just wanted slow-burn fluff, sue me.

**EDIT: **I LIED I'M SORRY THINGS GET KINDA HEAVY AND DRAMA HAPPENS

the rating on this fic will go up at some point, due to the fact that they actually get to frick-frack at some point so yes, i will be bumping it up to M when the time comes

_general fic warnings:_ incest, freckle-appreciation, slight underage, luffy being cute and adorable as per usual, EXTREME amounts of cuddling and smooching

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><p>Twelve years passed since the divorce. Since his mother took him to Portugal and never looked back. Since he'd heard the sound of his father's voice. Since he'd seen the face of his little brother.<p>

Ace wasn't sure if he missed them or not. All he remembered was the sound of crying, and the fierce determination to somehow get back that burned in him for years after he was taken away. Luffy was a distant memory, a teary eyed, lively little kid who was always hanging off Ace's arm. Not a whole lot more came to mind.

The wait at the airport was slightly awkward to say the least. Ace didn't really want to be there. He had better things to do with his time, and at twenty, he wasn't all that interested in getting to know some long lost family members. Sure, he was happy that his mom was happy, but he wished he could stay out of it. Most of all, he wished his father and brother _weren't_ moving back in.

After relocating back to the States with his mother a few years ago, Ace built a life for himself. Made friends, connections, roots. Now, he'd have to navigate around two more people in the house. Great. It was difficult enough keeping his mom out of his activities, now he'd have two more lives to deal with.

He scowled at the board of incoming flights. According to the flashing red letters, the plane that they were waiting for arrived more than twenty minutes ago. Even his mother was getting anxious, wringing her hands together and shooting Ace tiny little glances.

If the old man didn't show, Ace would track him down and kill him himself. He could see how much Rouge wanted this to work. Despite the split all those years ago, she'd never truly gotten over Roger. Ace didn't fully understand it himself, but wondered sometimes what it would be like to lose both the love of your life and one of your sons in one fell swoop. Ace sometimes wondered why he hadn't ended up with his father instead.

Whatever, not like it mattered. What mattered was that the duo were late, and Ace was tempted to just leave. Just as he was about to pitch his idea to his mom, he heard a loud, excitable voice tossed in their direction.

"Moooooooom! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! Dad, look, there it's them! Hurry – ow! Hey, that, _hurt_."

Ace turned to find a boy rubbing the back of his head, frowning at someone who Ace had troubling identifying as his father.

"What have I told you about keeping your voice down?" Roger said. Ace stared at them, gaze drawn to the boy that set off a wave of nostalgia somewhere in his chest. Luffy. He looked, well, normal. A red t-shirt, faded blue jeans, and a worn pair of flip-flops. There wasn't anything overtly striking about him, but Ace had the sudden overpowering urge to do something lame, like ruffle his hair or draw him into a hug.

Instead he turned to Roger, but with a smile on his face, the older man had already set his eyes on his mother. They were talking in hushed tones, hands clutching at one another as they ignored everyone else around them. He didn't have much of a choice in turning back to his brother. Luffy had set down his bag, riffling through it to pull out a half empty bag of chips.

He glanced up though, flashing Ace a broad smile and bounding over to thrust out the bag of snacks. Ace took it without thinking, clutching limply at the offering as Luffy let out a little laugh.

"I'm Luffy, but you know that! Dad said I shouldn't, but I really wanna hug you right now, but you look like you might not be okay with that, so I won't." The boy said cheerfully, quite frankly looking like he was going to burst out of his skin in terms of holding himself back.

Ace sighed lightly, realizing that Luffy was bound to be a huge handful. The kid looked like he had more energy than he knew what to do with.

"You can, if you want," Ace offered, words slipping out of their own accord. He definitely did _not_ want to hug his little brother, but the moment the words were out of his mouth, the younger boy launched himself at him. Ace caught him, dropping the chips to wrap one arm around Luffy and stabilize himself against the wall with the other. Ace wasn't slight by any means, but this kid packed some serious force.

"I missed you!" Luffy murmured into his neck, wrapping himself around Ace like some type of vine. He glanced down, catching sight of a beat-up hat dangling down his brother's back on a ratty length of string.

'_You don't even know me_.' Ace thought, tasting bitterness sharp on the back of his tongue. He couldn't remember the last time someone had been so delighted to see him. It was ironic it would come from someone he could barely remember. The lanky boy stubbornly holding onto him was a far cry from the snot nosed five year old he'd left twelve years ago, but something about him made Ace ache with familiarity.

"Alright, enough, off. I got work in a couple hours and you two gotta get home and unpacked. Mom'll deal with showing you around." He said, gently easing Luffy off of him with a few gentle shoves to his shoulder. The teen detached himself, landing on the linoleum and smiling up at Ace with a nod.

Ace moved to his parents, tapping his mother lightly on the shoulder to get her attention. "Traffic's going to get worse, we should head out while we still can."

She turned to him, eyes damp but smiling broadly. "Of course! We'll just go to the baggage claim and then we'll head out right away." She turned back to the man Ace had trouble recognizing as his father. "Ace has work later! So it's best we leave now and catch up at home."

Roger nodded, offering Ace a slightly strained smile. It wasn't as genuine as the one Ace had seen when the man had spotted his mother, but he was trying. Luffy was beside them in an instant, both bags in hand and rocking on the balls of his feet.

His mouth spread into a grin first, before opening to speak.

"Alright! Let's _gooooooooo!"_

* * *

><p>The ride home was a little strange to say the least. Ace drove and Luffy, predictably, called shotgun, leaving their parents to sit in the backseat. His mother almost protested, but surprisingly Roger interjected, content to sit in the back with her as she pointed out landmarks they passed on the way.<p>

Luffy wouldn't sit still, and it drew all of Ace's attention. The kid was curled up on the seat, hands fiddling with anything he could reach, ranging from the window, to the radio, to the glove compartment box. He tried to pop the lock, but when he came out unsuccessful, he switched to staring at Ace.

It was almost annoying, really. Ace could feel his gaze, but refused to give in and look back. No matter how much he wanted to, he stayed focused on driving while Luffy grinned at him out of the corner of his eye.

He didn't understand why the kid was so fascinated with him. Sure, it'd been a long time, but they looked similar where it counted, he couldn't figure out what there was to stare at. But somehow, without fail, Luffy looked at him for the whole hour it took to drive home, eyes glued to every inch of Ace like he'd disappear if he looked out the goddamned window for a change.

He was grateful that he'd chosen to wear his hoodie, feeling exposed enough as it was without having Luffy's eyes fixated on his tattoos. Surprisingly enough though, Luffy didn't say much, occasionally answering something Rouge would ask but otherwise content to continue his inspection of Ace.

When they got home, everyone helped with the transfer of things. There was a startlingly small amount of luggage for such a permanent move. Five boxes, tops, and for two grown men it seemed ridiculously under packed. Ace wasn't keen on asking questions though, quick to kiss his mother on the cheek and offer a goodbye.

He didn't have to be at work for another few hours, but figured he'd stop off at Marco's for a bit to kill some time. On his way out, though, Luffy was there, hand skimming Ace's wrist for the barest of moments before resting at his side.

"You'll be back, yeah?" He asked. Ace wanted to tell him it was none of his business, but something in the kid's expression stopped him. It was an expression he recognized, suddenly, from far too many years ago. Something that spoke of loss and fear and a tiny bit of hope.

"Yeah, late though so I'll see you tomorrow." Ace said instead, pulling away before he had to stare at the kid any longer. Something about him made Ace want to pull him in and not let go. Fuck these fraternal feelings, honestly.

"Okay, see ya!" Luffy called after him, waving enthusiastically for Ace to see even though he promised himself he wouldn't turn around. The kid was standing there, vibrant grin on his face and looking for all the world like he wanted nothing more than to see Ace again.

Ah shit, this was going to be so bad.

* * *

><p>"So? What's he like? What's he look like? Do you have a picture?"<p>

Ace shot Thatch a sharp look, shrugging before burrowing his face back into the magazine he'd rescued off Marco's shelf. He was seated on the floor, leaning back against the edge of the bed as the crew tossed question after question at him.

"No, idiot, I don't have a picture. He's seventeen, kinda short, thin, tan, can't sit still and has a bad scar right here," Ace said, pointing just under his left eye and lowering the magazine to see Vista smiling at him.

"Is he cute?" Vista asked, because of course that's what he would want to know. Ace couldn't help but scowl, tossing the magazine in the man's direction.

"Dunno, he's got this eager puppy thing going for him. Looks like he might be too much to deal with. Don't want to be around him all that much, to be honest. I get this weird responsibility vibe whenever I look at him, like I gotta be the one to handle him, you know?" Ace answered honestly, knowing the crew would be expecting nothing less from him.

Marco dropped down into the space beside him, offering Ace something of a serene smile. "Being a big brother isn't that hard. We've trained lots of recruits, a lot of the boys here look up to you. I'm sure it'll be the same with him." Marco said, always the most reasonable one of them all.

Ace made a frustrated noise, standing up only to throw himself face down on Marco's bed, narrowly missing Thatch. "I don't want it to be the same with him. I don't want to be a big brother." He mumbled into the pillow, rolling over to stare at the far wall. Marco's head appeared on the edge of the bed, giving him an exasperated look.

"He's your responsibility now, Ace, whether you like it or not." Marco reprimanded.

Ace groaned, shoving the man away and swinging himself upright. "He's seventeen, he doesn't need a big brother and he is _not_ my responsibility." With a look at the clock, Ace began making for the door. It was almost time to start work anyway and he didn't want to be late. Whitebeard was always amused when Ace managed to show up late. Never mad, but always ready to tease him for not being on time.

"And I swear if I find any of you hanging around the house trying to catch sight of him I'll punch your teeth in, got it?" Ace called over his shoulder, earning himself a collection of laughter from the guys scattered around the room. It was hard enough keeping this life separate, it'd be even worse if Luffy caught sight of any of them.

The kid seemed damned curious, and Ace would bet a month's wages that if one of the guys showed up, Luffy wouldn't just pass the whole encounter off.

If anything, Ace might just have to show them a picture so they _wouldn't_ stick their noses where they didn't belong.

Forget it, he'd deal with it when he got home. There's no way he was about to spend an entire night thinking about the kid, especially not while he was working; there were some things in Ace's life that he hated mixing. Family and the Whitebeard gang were definitely two of those things.

* * *

><p>i feel bad for ace because he doesn't even realize how hard he's gonna fall for his baby brother<br>ANYWAY yeah that boy is clearly into some shady as heck business  
>comments? concerns? expectations? anything is appreciated<p>

-oumriel


	2. Chapter 2

okay i know you all probably wanted to know what Ace was out doing all night but i'm a huge weenie and didn't feel like revealing it yet so here have some more progressive AceLu instead

also a huge HUGE thank you to everyone who commented, faved, or followed. much love to you all, your encouragement means a lot and i should have gotten back to everyone that left a review personally!

chapter stretched out about 1k longer than intended oops sorry

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><p>Ace managed to slip in just past three in the morning. All the lights in the house had been shut off, save for the porch light – a switch Ace flicked off once he was safely inside and all locks in place. He was always paranoid about the safety of the house, leaving him to start the lock inspection just after toeing off his shoes.<p>

First, it was a round trip to check if all the downstairs windows were locked. He moved from room to room, pausing at the backdoor to make sure it was sealed properly before continuing on his way to the stairs. Content that nothing was amiss, Ace ambled up, deliberately skipping the steps that squeaked too loudly. He came in late frequently, cautious not to wake his mother and disturb her.

When he reached the top, the figure peering out of the guest room almost made him fall back down the stairs.

"Ace? Z'at you?" A sleepy voice murmured, unruly head of black hair peeking further out of the doorway and into the main hall. Ace clutched at his chest, irrationally frustrated at the kid for scaring him so bad. Instead of snapping at him in the middle of the night, the older boy just crowded Luffy back into his room, hands on his shoulders and guiding him back to bed.

"It's me, why're you up so late?" Ace asked. Luffy shrugged, still clearly half asleep as he let Ace push him back into the mattress.

"Always wake up when th' door opens. Ne'one could be leavin'. Always gotta say bye," Luffy mumbled into his pillow, hands fisting up in his sheets as Ace looked him over. He didn't answer, couldn't really. He was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of guilt at the kid's words. He almost wanted to apologize, not that it would do any good. It was amazing how one little incident in someone's life could leave lasting imprints like that.

Ace ran a hand through his hair, frowning gently at the boy who in seconds was back to snoring lightly. His breath came out evenly as he curled farther into himself, snuffling into his pillow as Ace stared at him.

Christ he was tired, just looking at Luffy made him want to pass out right there. He couldn't though. He still had to write up tonight's log, count the cash, and then change. Friday nights were always this shitty. At least he didn't have class tomorrow. That'd be hell.

Class, huh, had they enrolled Luffy yet? Would he be going somewhere close by? Would he be okay transferring in the middle of the semester? Would Ace be giving him rides to school?

Augh, what the hell? He couldn't be focusing on the kid like this. He needed to get some sleep, and for that to happen he needed to finish his job properly.

Ace stepped out of the room slowly, closing the door quietly behind him and making a beeline for his own room. He'd be done by five, latest, and he'd hopefully manage to fit in five or six hours before someone decided to wake him.

* * *

><p>Ace woke to the crash-bang of something distant falling and the loud laughter of what had to be his little brother. Of course the kid was a morning person. He was probably an 'all the time' person, rearing to go at any point in the day.<p>

Ace groaned, shoving his face back into his pillow without glancing at his phone. It couldn't be past twelve, not with how groggy he still felt. There was nothing he wanted to do more than sleep the rest of the afternoon away, but with the state of his stomach and the amount of noise emanating from the lower level, he figured there would be very little rest happening from this point on.

Instead, he forced himself up, swiping his cell off his desk and checking it for messages. There was a text from Vista begging for a picture, which Ace immediately deleted, and one from a contact of his asking him to do a pickup in a few hours.

Ace tossed his phone, grabbing his mostly dry towel before padding out of his room. The washroom was, thankfully, unoccupied, and Ace took his time brushing his teeth and showering.

By the time he emerged downstairs, clad in track pants and a sweater, it was already quarter past one. It looked like a hurricane had hit the kitchen, his mother scrubbing pans amidst speckles of flour and batter. She looked up, offering Ace a brilliant smile and gesturing towards the oven.

"I managed to save a few waffles for you. I wanted to wake you, but Luffy said I should leave you be. My gosh, he eats! More than even you, Ace! It's so nice to be cooking for a big family again." She said, clearly delighted at the whole situation. Ace couldn't help but smile softly, dropping a kiss onto her head as he passed her and opening the oven to take out his share.

"Thanks, where is everyone?"

"Roger is out, sorting out a few business things. And I think there's still a few things that should be arriving soon, so he might have gone to pick those up. Luffy's in the den, trying to figure out how to use the television, no doubt. How about you go help him? And if you're going out, you should take him too. He could use someone to show him around town."

Ace listened absently, nodding as he crammed two waffles into his mouth. "Mmh, maybe, I've got a work thing though, so I might be busy." He said casually. Rouge wasn't having any of it though, shutting off the tap and turning to give Ace a stern glare.

"Too busy for family? You _will_ take Luffy out. You're not working all day, are you?" She said, drying her hands on a dishtowel and resting them on her hips. Ace hated when she got all mom-mode like that. There was barely anything he could say to argue with her.

"Fine, fine. I'll let him tag along. Only for you, I swear." Ace answered fondly, offering her an affectionate rub on the back before slipping out of the kitchen with his plate. She tossed an exasperated sigh after him, but went back to her cleanup.

Ace had the urge to just slip out by himself anyway, consequences be damned. But instead, he found himself drifting towards the den, little frustrated noises increasing in volume the closer he got to the tiny family area.

A glance though the door revealed Luffy. The boy was spread out chest down on the floor, shirt riding up his back and shorts in danger of abandoning their important task of shielding the kid's ass. He was fiddling with four different remotes, pressing random buttons and murmuring to himself in agitation when the large black box failed, yet again, to flicker to life.

Ace found amusement creeping in despite himself. He was clearly having trouble, and really all it would take was a tiny suggestion to help him out. Instead, he watched Luffy abandon yet another remote, groaning in impatience before rolling over.

He caught sight of Ace, then, and the older boy watched in something akin to fascination as Luffy's face positively lit up.

"Ace! You're awake!" He cheered, shooting up from his position on the floor and immediately planting himself in front of Ace. The kid seemed to lack a structured definition of personal space, crowding up against Ace's front and peeking at the plate he held. "Ooooh, is that a waffle? Are you gonna finish it?"

Ace, slightly taken aback, leaned out of Luffy's orbit and held out the plate to put some distance between them.

"Nah, it's all yours. The TV remote's in the living room, by the way. Mom always takes it in there at the end of the night to avoid confusing it with the others." Ace said, observing Luffy whisk the plate away from him and stuff the waffle into his mouth in one bite.

"Awesome, thanks! Hey, do you know where the closest convenient store is? I kinda looked around the house and you guys don't have a lot of snacks." Luffy asked, waffle swallowed and wiping his hand off on his shirt sleeve.

"Yeah, actually, I'll take you. Mom said I should show you around anyway. You ready, or are you gonna change?" Ace asked, making a grab at the opportunity rather than asking Luffy if he wanted to hang out. He didn't want the kid to get the wrong idea, heaven forbid he think Ace wanted to spend time with him for no reason.

Despite that, Luffy was all grins anyway, quaking with excitement and darting to the kitchen to deposit his plate. "I'd love that! Lemme get my hat, I'll be right back!" He called to Ace, offering their mother a tight hug before disappearing upstairs.

"Look at how happy he is," Rouge said, giving Ace her best 'I told you so' look. Ace rolled his eyes, slipping into his sneakers and grabbing his jacket. He patted it down for his keys and wallet, slipping it on and turning to face his mother.

"Yeah, yeah. Have you enrolled him in school yet? I could pick up whatever he needs so he's good for Monday." Ace offered, listening as Luffy banged around upstairs.

"Oh gosh! No, I haven't. Do you mind? I'm sure we could just put him in your old school. It's close enough to walk. How could I have forgotten? He's already been out of school for a week. Oh no, do you think he'll have trouble settling in?" Forever the worrier, Ace swept his mother into a hug.

"He'll be fine, he's a bright kid. I'll get it all sorted. I'm still in contact with Principal Alvida, Luffy will fit right in, don't worry about it." Ace assured, releasing the woman just as Luffy bounded downstairs, shorts exchanged for jeans and tacky hat perched on his wild hair.

"Ready! Ah, can we stop for lunch? I saw this burger place on the drive here. They have these six decker bacon burger things and if you eat one in less than ten minutes you totally don't have to pay." Luffy said triumphantly, seemingly assured of a free meal. Ace cracked a smile, shrugging and making for the door.

"Sure, if you can't finish it though, you're paying." He said, adding a quiet, "Bye mom," at the end of his sentence. Luffy was right behind him, sliding into his sandals and puffing out his chest.

"You're underestimating how quickly I can inhale food."

* * *

><p>Somehow, Luffy <em>did<em> manage to finish the burger (and a side of fries) in less than eight minutes. Ace was a little impressed, but couldn't bring himself to admit it. He paid for his own normal sized burger, sans fries plus a milkshake. He bought one for Luffy too, partly because he felt like the kid earned a prize for finishing a ridiculous amount of food in a borderline dangerous amount of time, and partly because he wouldn't stop staring at Ace's.

When they finally made it back to the car, a glance at the time told Ace that if he wanted to save even a modicum of professional face, he should probably do his pickup. He looked at Luffy, weighing the pros and cons of bringing him along and leaving him in the car.

There wasn't enough time to go to the school first, and if he dropped him off at home and picked him up again, there would just be questions asked.

"I'm gonna run a quick errand, alright? After that, we'll get you set up at school and then whatever you want. How's that sound?"

Luffy was all smiles, bendy straw perched between his teeth and head cocked in Ace's direction. "Sure! Where do we have to go for it?"

Ace shrugged, starting up the car and frowning at his little brother as he tongued the milkshake straw.

"Not far, it'll be quick. You're gonna stay in the car, alright?" Ace said, feeling like he was talking to a toddler for a moment. Surprisingly, Luffy's face fell into something more contemplative, directing his gaze out the window instead of asking more questions. Ace wanted to ask, but figured since if Luffy wasn't, he wouldn't either.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, Ace driving up to a dirty brick building and parking outside. "I'll be back in a sec." He said, passing the remainder of his shake to Luffy and slipping out of the car.

The jog up to the seventh floor was quick. Izou opened the door, looking Ace up and down before pressing a black duffle bag into his hands. "You smell like grease," he said offhandedly. Ace chose to ignore him, hefting the bag over his shoulder and turning to leave without actually entering the dimly lit apartment.

He made it back down in under five, but just his luck, when he opened the door to toss the bag in, Luffy was nowhere to be found.

"God fucking damnit!" Ace growled, smacking his palm against the frame of his car and slamming the door. Okay, stay calm, he couldn't have gotten that far. Maybe two blocks at most. Maybe he'd seen a food stall, maybe he'd just –

"Ace! Aaaaaace! C'mere, look at the size of this dog!"

Ace's head snapped up, peering over his beaten down Honda and spotting Luffy about ten meters up the opposite street. He was curled around an admittedly large dog, nuzzling his face against its muzzle as an amused owner looked on.

Ace was on guard immediately, looking over the adult clutching at the leash. They seemed harmless enough, happy in the way most owners get when people take interest in their pets. He strode over, and Luffy was up in seconds, thanking the stranger for their time and meeting Ace halfway.

"It was so huge! I want a dog like that, do you think they'd let me get a dog that size? Dad always says I'm not responsible enough to take care of a pet, but I figure I could if it was important. And it would be important, you know? I could do it, I could totally do it." Luffy prattled, moving past Ace to climb back into the passenger seat.

"I thought I told you not to get out of the car," Ace said instead, stopping Luffy from closing his door and leaning in to give him a stern look.

Luffy blinked up at him, already seated and buckled in. "I forget things real easy, sorry Ace. I'm okay though, see?" He said, patting Ace on the chest and smiling as if that should make everything okay. Ace wanted to stay mad at him, almost wanted to yell a bit, but he couldn't find it in him. He let out a breath instead, leaning back and pushing Luffy's door closed.

God, he'd freaked for a moment. Almost went into a full blown panic over losing Luffy in this neighborhood. Not that it'd be horrible. If he was being honest, someone would probably recognize Luffy as his and call him. He was overreacting. It wasn't a big deal. The kid was only three years his junior, he wasn't a fucking baby.

Crisis averted and officially back to calm mode, Ace pulled himself over to the driver's side and climbed in. Luffy was picking at the glove box again, frowning at the lock as his fingers felt over it for dips or latches.

"Does this have a key?" He asked as Ace started the car.

"Yeah, stop messing with it."

"What's in it?"

"Licensing stuff."

"Oh. Why's it locked?"

"To keep nosy kids like you out. Do you always ask this many questions?" Ace fired back, wondering if he remembered the route to the high school. It'd been more than two years since he'd been out of there. Was admin even open on the weekends?

"Yeah, mostly." Luffy responded, removing his fingers from where they'd been fiddling with the hinges.

When they finally pulled up to the school building, Ace only spotted one lone car situated in the parking lot. When they got out and made their way up to the door, Ace smiled in relief to find the building unlocked.

Administrations _was_ open, thank god. There was a lady there, typing away at who knows what as Ace approached.

He dealt with it all, a couple pieces of identification were the only things needed – which, thankfully, Luffy had been carrying on him in his wallet. He'd be starting as soon as Monday rolled by, and seemed fairly excited about it.

Great, Ace didn't think he could deal with one of those teens that hated leaving the house. If anything, Luffy seemed like he'd enjoy being cooped up inside as little as possible.

He picked up a couple forms on their way out, some basic stuff their parents would have to sign, and general information about the school itself. Ace didn't think it was particularly necessary, but Luffy seemed particularly delighted with snagging all the info he could, even one of those dumb little pamphlets about clubs.

When he finally managed to drag the kid out of the building and back into the car, he was all smiles. Luffy was positively shaking with excitement, clutching all the papers to his chest and turning his brightest grin on Ace.

"This is gonna be great, thanks! Like, really awesome level great." Luffy gushed. Ace would admit he was the slightest bit confused. He couldn't ever remember a day in his life when he'd been that excited to go to class, let alone have to wake up for morning high school shit.

"Yeah, sure. We still gotta hit the convenience store before we head back. You might want to put all that in the back or something." Ace suggested, gesturing vaguely at the papers as he turned a corner.

Luffy looked down at his loot before twisting around to carefully place the flyaway pages on top of the black duffle bag. Ace watched his fingers linger over the zipper in the rear-view mirror before Luffy retracted his hands and turned back to the front.

"Man, I've got forty bucks to spend on snacks. I can finally buy the good chips! You want anything?"

"Nah, keep it for yourself." Ace said, parking in front of the dingy convenience store and watching Luffy shoot him one last smile before darting inside.

Ace took the time to lean back in his seat, running a hand through his hair and letting out a deep breath. His little brother was surprisingly easy to hang around. Sure, he was jittery and talkative, but it wasn't horrible. Half of the guys he worked with talked more than Luffy did.

And Luffy was charming, in his own way. All easy smiles and real interest. It wasn't often Ace met someone that genuine, and it wasn't an unwelcome change.

And really, what would be the harm in getting to know him a little bit? It wasn't like he had to mentor him or anything. As long as Luffy stayed out of his business, maybe they'd get along.

Despite the little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he should keep his distance, Ace had a hard time denying the fact that he _wanted_ to talk to Luffy. The kid was like his own little planet, drawing Ace in no matter how much he struggled against it.

As he watched Luffy emerge from the store, arms laden with a ridiculous amount of plastic bags, he thought that maybe, just maybe he'd make something good out of this.

* * *

><p>so like general thoughts on time skips? I wanna get things rolling but I don't know if all of you want it SUPER slow or if I can start skippin days and weeks.<br>i think i'm hitting luffy's character as much as i can in this setting? trying not to make him ALL about food and give him a few other angles as well. is any of that even bleeding through? ahhhhghgdkjgkd  
>opinions and preferences?<p>

-oumriel


	3. Chapter 3

here be the last day in the boy's weekend before i start doing sporadic timeskips  
>thanks to everyone that chipped in with their opinion!<br>headcanon ace wears a lot of sweaters around the house so luffy hasn't seen his tattoos yet

i have just been WHIZZING through this fic for some reason, i'm writing almost a chapter a day holy hell

* * *

><p>Ace spent Sunday sleeping. Well, most of it anyway.<p>

When he wasn't flipping idly through one of his textbooks, he was dozing on the couch, only waking whenever Luffy perched nearby.

The kid, unsurprisingly, remained within Ace's line of sight throughout the day, watching the TV on mute or flipping through the assortment of books on the shelf. Generally making himself present, yet out of the way.

Ace wasn't stupid. He could tell Luffy wanted to spend time with him, but he couldn't be bothered to engage him in much conversation. He was tired, and wasn't used to spending his Sundays in such close proximity to another person. Luffy was just lucky Ace didn't shut himself in his room all day instead. It'd taken much self-convincing to strand himself on the sofa instead.

Luffy managed to be as quiet as he could. Not silent, but close. He'd hum under his breath occasionally, and the shuffle of paper or the sound of his constant movement made for a surprisingly comforting background noise.

Ace drifted in and out to the sound of his little brother's presence, waking a final time to find Luffy leaning over him and jostling his arm.

"Mom says we're going for dinner in a few hours, so you should probably get ready." Luffy said, smiling at Ace as he struggled to gain his bearings. Luffy began to shift away from him, but not before Ace caught his wrist and spun him back.

"You got anything to wear?" Ace asked, uncertain as to why he gave a shit. Luffy grinned regardless, because that's all he seemed to do.

"I dunno, depends on how fancy it is. I'm not good with all that stuff. I could dig around my boxes, maybe?" The kid suggested, eyes flickering to where Ace's finger's curled against his skin. Ace let go immediately, sitting up and rubbing his face quickly.

"I could loan you something." Ace offered. He almost smirked at the thought. Not that it would fit. Luffy was a whole head shorter than him, forget the difference in build. There was no way anything Ace owned wouldn't fall right off him. Then again, maybe his mom still had the odds and ends suit from his younger years.

"I can manage. I'll ask the old man," Luffy said, his own hand now smoothing over the space that Ace's had occupied. He watched as Luffy rubbed at his wrist, smiling lightly before trotting off to the rest of the house. Weird kid, honestly.

* * *

><p>Ace got ready efficiently. He showered quickly, and slid on black jeans and a white button up that made him look mildly presentable.<p>

Reconvening in the living room he found his father, fussing with his tie in the main mirror and messing up the knot even further.

"Here, I can do it, what kind of knot?" Ace cut in, inserting himself between the man and the mirror. Roger looked surprised for a moment before something akin to affection found its way onto his face. He let Ace take his tie in hand, tilting his head back to expose his neck.

"Your mother always favoured the Windsor, though I only ever learned how to do a Kelvin, myself." He admitted, chuckling lightly as Ace wound the fabric around with well-practiced ease. There was a time when he'd have to wear one of these for every appointment. Now a days, they'd be lucky if he was wearing shoes instead of sandals.

"It's ridiculous if you ask me." Ace answered, sliding the knot in place and straightening the lapels of his dad's jacket. "No one cares how you tie your tie, people barely care if you're even wearing one." He finished, stepping back to survey his handiwork.

Still got it.

"You're telling me." Roger said, for a brief moment sounding every bit as young as him or Luffy. "But this means a lot to your mother, and I respect that." Ah, there, back into adult mode. It was good though, Ace could get behind that. He understood what it was like to do things just for the sake of making Rouge happy. He loved her. They both loved her.

"Did Luffy find something to wear?" Ace asked after a brief lull, listening to the dimmed sounds of activity coming from upstairs.

Roger glanced at him, eyes sweeping over Ace's form in a gesture that was almost assessing. "I dug out an old suit I bought him a year ago for an event he never attended. He hasn't grown much since then, so I hope it still fits him. He should be down by now anyway." Roger answered, glancing at the clock and turning towards the stairs. "Luffy!" Roger called out, an answering thud resonating through the house.

"I'm ready, I'm ready!"

In a flurry of stomping, Luffy was suddenly all _there_, black pants making him look impossibly tall and towel left forgotten around his neck. His hair was still dripping, dark wet spots blooming on the towel and his dress shirt.

Ace moved in without thinking, grabbing the ends on the towel and reigning Luffy in towards him.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Ace commented, covering the kid's head and scrubbing at his hair. When he removed the towel, Luffy was giggling, hair standing up all over the place but thankfully dry. "You could get sick."

"I never get sick," Luffy said, with the assurance that all teenagers seemed to have in regards to their health and wellbeing. Ace rolled his eyes, taking a moment to smooth down his brother's hair. Luffy all but leaned into the touch, humming lightly as Ace ran his fingers through tangled little patches.

Ace, suddenly conscious of the fact that Roger was watching them, felt a wave of embarrassment flow through him. He dropped his hands immediately, throwing the towel in Luffy's face for good measure. He'd been way too personal there for a moment, and had a sudden urge to be out of sight.

"Go put that back, and do something about your hair." He snapped, watching Luffy frown in confusion before puttering off regardless.

Roger was still staring at him, and Ace, not one to back down from a challenge, stared back.

"He likes you." Roger stated after a length of time had passed. Ace just shrugged, finally averting his gaze as his mother began making her way downstairs. He busied himself with putting on his shoes instead.

When he turned back, his mom was standing there, knee-length purple dress making a rather pleasant contrast with her pale hair. She'd left it open for the first time in what felt like forever, cascading down in waves along her right shoulder. She looked stunning, and Luffy, bounding up right behind her, was the one to voice it.

"You look amazing!" He blurted, and Ace wondered if the boy had a selective filter. He had already noticed that there were times when the first thing to mind would emerge from Luffy's mouth; other times he seemed to be holding much back in terms of speech.

Ace stared at Luffy, and Luffy stared at Rouge – who really only had eyes for Roger. She murmured an absent thank you as their dad wrapped her up in a coat, Ace grabbing his own beaten up leather monstrosity off the hook. His mother was on him immediately, tutting and shaking her head like he was committing the foulest of all crimes.

"We're going to dinner! Oh, honey, you look so nice, don't ruin it with that jacket of yours," Rouge said. Ace had been through this many times before, answering on autopilot as he watch Luffy shake with quiet laughter behind her.

"It's just a jacket, I'll take it off when we're in the restaurant. Don't worry, you look beautiful. No one's even gonna notice me." Ace said, flipping Luffy off the moment his parents turned towards the door. All this accomplished was causing Luffy to begin laughing aloud.

At the very least, it looked like even their mother couldn't stay upset at anything for long in the face of Luffy's cheer. It was borderline infectious.

* * *

><p>The restaurant was nice. Appropriately formal, but casual enough that no one looked twice at Ace's jacket. They had reservations, which was awesome, and Ace was pleasantly happy with the amount of romance swirling between his mother and father. He was happy for them, truly, but he was also way more interested in seeing how many bread sticks Luffy could eat before the main courses arrived.<p>

Halfway through what Ace was identifying as Luffy's twenty-sixth breadstick, his phone went off. It never rang unless it was a work related emergency. Despite the displeasure on his mom's face, Ace moved to get up.

"Sorry, I have to take this. I'll be quick, I promise." He said, weaving around tables and stepping outside the building before answering the blocked number.

"Portgas, my man, nice to see you out and about town. Cute family, was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Ace wanted to punch the wall in frustration.

Kidd, that son of a bitch. He knew, _knew_, just like everyone else did, when Ace was with family, you backed off. Nothing in this town was more important than honoring boundaries, and Kidd showing such blatant disrespect wasn't just a challenge to Ace, but a challenge to the community.

"Where the fuck are you?" Ace hissed, desperately holding himself back from frantically swinging his head left and right. Instead, he stepped further away from the door, instinctively moving closer to the side alley.

"Ooooh, getting warmer. Come on, Portgas, just a little bit closer." Kidd's static covered voice bled through the receiver, a sure sign of a cheap, disposable phone. Ace stalked around the corner, only to be greeted with the sight of Kidd snapping his phone closed, slipping it into the pocket of his sweater and grinning madly.

"So nice of you to drop by." Kidd drawled, spreading his arms in greeting. Ace was in front of him in a flash, forcing Kidd up against the wall and pinning him in place.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Ace hissed. Kidd just raised his hands, the unthreatening gesture at odds with the manic smile on his face.

"Favor, remember? I've just lost one of my main members, and I figured I needed to start recruiting. Unfortunate, but you know how it is. How about crossing over, yeah? I could pay you way more, and think of the added perks. Better protection, a safety guarantee for your _family_. Sweet deal, no?"

Ace almost spat in his face at the very notion.

"I would _never_. None of the Whitebeards would _ever_. Take your offer and piss off to wherever you crawled out of. We don't need thugs like you around here." Ace said, shoving Kidd up against the wall once more before releasing him. He turned away, fully intending to go back inside and pretend this whole ordeal hadn't happened.

"Pity, maybe I should ask your brother instead? Unsurprising, with a sibling like you, that he should be so talented in this business." Kidd said quietly.

Ace turned around, fist flying at Kidd's face before he was consciously aware that he'd swung. It connected with the flat crack of bone and flesh, Kidd's head whipping to the side as he fell back against the dirty brick wall.

Ace was already readying himself to strike again, hand fisting in Kidd's hoodie to hold him up so he could bring his fist down for another hit.

It was at that precise moment that Ace heard a quiet voice float down from the opening of the alley.

"Ace? Is everything okay?"

Ace's reaction was immediate. His hand released Kidd's collar, letting him slump against the wall and dust himself off with a satisfied smirk.

All Ace had eyes for was Luffy, looking surprisingly unruffled despite what he'd just witnessed. He stood there, eyes flickering between Ace and Kidd with a frown.

"Get back inside." Ace barked, no room for care or comfort in this moment. He needed Luffy safe, inside, and Kidd gone. Under no circumstances did he want the two interacting.

Fortunately, Luffy didn't seem particularly inclined to argue. Instead, he stepped back, nodding slowly before turning and making his way back up the alley.

He turned his attention back to Kidd, who was wiping a streak of blood off the corner of his mouth and inspecting it smugly.

"Cute kid." He said offhandedly. Ace couldn't stop the snarl that ripped its way out of him.

"Touch my family and I will burn you. I will burn everything you've built, and everything you love. I swear on Whitebeard's honor if you so much as look at them I will make it my personal mission to make it so no one remembers you existed."

Kidd, the piece of shit that he was, smiled and patted Ace's shoulder as he drifted past him.

"I'll be holding you to that, yeah?"

* * *

><p>The rest of the dinner was off. Ace and Luffy were silent, both boys picking at their food rather than eating it. His mom looked worried, but something in Ace's expression must have kept her from asking.<p>

Ace wanted to feel bad, but he didn't feel anything other than agitated. All he wanted to do was get everybody home, where they'd be much more secure. His head was a swirl of thoughts. What had Kidd meant? What part did Luffy play in this? Were they just empty words meant to goad him?

Ace picked up the bill, much to everyone's protests. Out of all of them though, he was probably the one who could afford it most. Sometimes his job had its perks.

When they drove home, Ace was quick to thank his mom for the lovely evening before shutting himself away in his room. He changed first before attacking his phone, messaging the inner circle to see what they could pull up on Kidd.

It wasn't long before a quiet knock sounded from outside. He opened the door to find Luffy, unusually hesitant expression on his face as he peered up at Ace. He was already clad in his pajamas, probably just as eager as Ace to get out of any type of formal wear.

"Can I come in?" He asked, leaving Ace to move aside and gesture him in. The younger boy hovered for moment, before Ace pointed at the bed and took the chair himself. Luffy settled in, sitting cross-legged on a pile of blankets. He didn't say anything, and the longer he stayed quiet, the more Ace realized something. Maybe Luffy wasn't here to interrogate him, or threaten to tell if he didn't get answers. The kid might just want some type of assurance that things were okay.

"Sorry you had to see that," Ace said eventually, leveling Luffy with an apologetic expression. Luffy shook his head, shivering before reaching for a blanket and tucking it around himself.

"S'okay. Are you okay?" The kid asked, looking earnest and concerned. Of course he was worried, of fucking course he was nice enough to be concerned for Ace on top of everything.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Ace said, pausing for a moment and watching Luffy pick at a loose thread on his sheets. "Are you alright?" He asked eventually. Luffy looked up, the beginnings of a smile creeping its way onto his face.

"Mhm, I've seen a lot worse than that. Work thing, right?" Luffy said, flopping sideways and stretching out on Ace's bed like he belonged there. Ace just observed him, feeling unsettled for no discernable reason. Luffy was brushing this off like it was no big deal. To Ace, in a way, it wasn't. But to anybody else, including Luffy, it should have been.

"Something like that." He muttered, spinning his chair back around and opening his laptop. He was curious now, set on doing a little research as to the area his dad and brother used to live in. Luffy quieted down behind him, and Ace could hear the occasional noise of him messing around on his phone. The least he could do was let the kid stay for a bit.

Ace wasn't sure how much time had passed while he nosed around. He got caught up in news articles hinting at some sort of serious gang activity in the area. Everything was very vague though, which was a definite sign of heavy illegal influence. The most powerful groups were the ones least talked about. In reality, he should have been focusing on the Kidd issue, but sometimes Ace tended to lose himself in less important tasks.

When he checked the time to find it just past midnight, he remembered that he'd had a guest. Turning around did little more than display Luffy, fast asleep in the center of Ace's bed. Of course the kid could fall asleep wherever.

He was curled up awkwardly, buried in the nest of blankets Ace usually kicked off during the night. He wasn't snoring this time, just twitching occasionally and breathing softly. Ace pinched the bridge of his nose, debating whether or not to wake the kid up.

He felt bad enough about the whole incident, not to mention how he'd snapped at Luffy before they even left the house. He owed him, kind of.

Instead of shaking Luffy awake, Ace smoothed back his hair, using the soothing gesture to rouse Luffy just slightly.

"I'm gonna pick you up, alright?" Ace murmured, Luffy blinking sleepily at him once before nodding and closing his eyes again. Ace reached down, hand's sliding under the small frame and slowly lifting him up. The blanket slid off, and Luffy immediately began shivering, hands wrapping around Ace's neck as he pressed his face into his chest.

"M'cold," Luffy murmured. Ace chuckled, god Luffy was light. It hadn't fully hit him at the airport, but now with the boy half snoozing in his arms, it was apparent that he couldn't be more than a hundred forty pounds tops.

"Hold on a bit," Ace said, moving out of his room and across the hall towards what was now Luffy's room. He set the kid down on his bed, fiddling with the alarm on the side table before figuring out how to set it for the following morning. In the meantime, Luffy had burrowed himself under his blankets, squinting at Ace before smiling.

"You home tonight?" He mumbled. Ace moved back over to his side, giving in to the urge to run his hand through Luffy's hair one more time.

"Yeah, kiddo. I'm staying in tonight."

* * *

><p>wheezes gently<br>sometimes I think about how utterly happy and complete ace and luffy make each other and start crying  
>i'm weak<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

CUTE THINGS HAPPEN IN THIS CHAPTER  
>the true extent of my author's notes<br>shout out to my anon reviewers because I can't personally reply to you guys

* * *

><p>The following week passed uneventfully.<p>

Luffy started school and became a scarce presence around the house, only appearing in the late afternoon and then disappearing into his room to play catch-up. The only times Ace saw him were when he dropped him off and picked him up. The school was close enough to walk, but Ace felt uneasy letting Luffy wander around by himself.

His mom and Roger both worked, in and out of the house at erratic times. They were family in name, but very rarely had the time to get together as a full unit. Meals were shared with one, maybe two others maximum. It was a constantly rotating schedule of who Ace would see when he got back.

Ace was barely home himself, hunting around for information on Kidd and his previous activities. He met with Whitebeard to discuss what happened, as was procedure, but promised he could handle it himself. Kidd had left gritty footprints in many of the cities he'd been in, ranging from unexplained deaths to shipments going missing. He'd taken down some pretty distinct power houses, but it was hard to get a grasp on just how far his reach extended.

What was hard was keeping what Kidd said out of his mind. Ace was curious, to say the least. He'd caved and tried to see what he could find on his little brother.

The most he came up with was a few school suspensions due to fights, and a disturbing amount of unexplained absences that sometimes stretched for weeks. It was shady, but not outright incriminating. If anything, it just filled Ace with even more questions.

He wanted to ask, god there was nothing he wanted to do more, but he couldn't. If Luffy had let him off without asking for so much as one explanation, he would offer the kid the same level of respect.

Besides, it wasn't like Luffy was doing much of anything other than school. And whenever Ace sporadically knocked on his door for meals or just to check in, he'd actually be in his room. Maybe Kidd just had been bullshitting, running on an assumption and dangling an empty hook in front of Ace.

Forget about it, Luffy was clean and removed. He wasn't a part of this.

* * *

><p>The week after that was when Luffy made himself present again. It came mostly in the form of him coming home in the middle of the week and making for Ace almost immediately.<p>

"I made friends!" He blurted, dropping onto the couch next to Ace. He'd been seated there for the past hour, flipping through some folders Marco had slipped him earlier that day. Ace snapped his folder shut, turning to look at Luffy. He hadn't had time to pick him up today, needing to get his hands on the files instead.

Luffy was almost shaking with excitement, eyes wide with happiness as he fumbled to rid himself of his bag.

"Yeah? How was that?" Ace asked, tossing the folder onto the table. He wanted to keep reading, and could have told Luffy they'd talk later, but it was getting harder and harder to brush the kid off.

"Great, I mean, they're already all in a group, but I finally have people to talk to in my classes!" Luffy said, bringing his knees up to his chest and grinning at Ace.

"Good, friends are important. It'll make school a lot more tolerable." Ace said, getting up and gathering up all the files and tucking them under his arm. "C'mon, I'll take you out for something to eat." He offered, making towards the stairs. A part of him wished he could just leave all this stuff laying around.

Luffy zipped past him in seconds, bounding up the stairs two at a time and throwing his bag into his room. Ace followed a bit slower, shoving the files into his desk and shrugging another sweater on top of the hoodie he already wore. He liked to keep a little warmer than most.

Luffy was already waiting outside his door, gesturing for Ace to hurry up.

"We're walking, go put on a jacket." Ace suggested, forever trying to be the responsible big brother. Luffy complied, ducking into his room and emerging with his jacket on.

"Is it far?" Luffy asked, descending the stairs with Ace and sliding into his shoes. Ace shook his head, pulling the door open and ushering Luffy outside.

"Nah, a couple blocks, if you get tired I'll carry you again." Ace said, lips quirking up into a smile as Luffy laughed.

"No take backs on that." The kid said, grinning as he skipped a few steps to walk a little bit in front.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ace called back, shoving his hands into his pockets as they began their walk.

* * *

><p>Ace let Luffy order however much he wanted, watching the expression on the waitresses face go from amusement to worry as he kept talking. Ever the professional though, she wrote it all down, moving to take Ace's order as well.<p>

When she departed, Luffy was off talking, listing off names of his friends and what classes he shared with each of them. Ace listened in absently, nodding every now and again but otherwise letting Luffy get it all out.

When their food arrived, Ace saw it as his turn to contribute to the conversation a little bit, conjuring up some questions to keep Luffy talking throughout the meal.

"Why do you always have that hat?" He asked, waving in Luffy's general direction. The kid automatically brought his hand up, brushing over the coarse straw contraption draped against his back. There was a warm smile on his face, something fond and full of promise.

"I got it from a friend. Well, he was really friends with the old man, but he hung around enough that I got to know him! Shanks was really great at what he did, and when he gave me the hat it was with the promise that whatever I chose to do, I would be the absolute best at it. I'm keeping it safe for him until the day I can hand it back." Luffy said proudly.

Shanks, jeez, why on earth did that name sound so familiar? Family friend, maybe Ace had met him when he was younger, though he couldn't seem to conjure up a face to go with the name.

"What'd he do?" Ace asked, curious about the man that could draw such pride out of his little brother.

"Mm, you know, this and that. Business stuff! Funny story, actually, you know how I got this scar?" Luffy said, pointing at the crudely stitched up mark under his left eye. Ace, while curious, noticed a slight diversion when he saw one.

Everything Kidd said came trickling back in, a slow stream of doubt that once again had Ace more than a little curious about Luffy's spotty past.

"I met Shanks right after you and mom left. He moved around a lot, and he didn't stay in the same place for very long. I wanted to go with him so badly because I thought I'd be able to find you guys. Shanks told me I wasn't tough enough to travel with him, so I ended up stabbing myself to prove that I could be tougher than anyone. I cried for hours afterwards." Luffy prattled, laughing at his own story.

Ace rolled his eyes, pushing away his plate and pulling out his phone. "Of course you did," he said, typing in Shanks name and shooting it off to Thatch. Maybe he'd come up with something, maybe he wouldn't.

Ace looked up, only to find Luffy staring at his phone. Luffy couldn't see the screen from there – Ace would know – but there was something in his expression that made Ace feel just the tiniest bit guilty. He was being nosey, he knew, but something about this whole thing wasn't sitting right with him.

Maybe he should just ask his father.

Ace abandoned the idea almost immediately.

Roger seemed nice, sure, but something about him held the same air of avoidance that Luffy did. For crying out loud, Ace didn't even know what his dad's job was.

Maybe he'd actually have to do some serious digging.

* * *

><p>Halfway through the walk home, Luffy gasped, pointing at a man with a little girl riding around on his shoulders. The kid looked delighted, giggling and yelling every time her father picked up the pace.<p>

"Don't point, it's rude." Ace said, reaching out and swatting at Luffy's finger.

"But that looks like so much fun." Luffy mumbled, watching with wide eyes as the man spun around, arms securing the girl in place as she laughed. Ace raised a brow at his little brother.

"Dad never gave you a shoulder ride?" Ace asked. Luffy shook his head, kicking at the pavement with a slight pout on his face.

"Nah, never even got a piggy back. I don't think it ever occurred to him that I'd want one," He answered. Ace, in a spur of the moment decision, stopped walking. Luffy paused a few steps ahead, turning back to offer him an inquisitive look. "Ace?"

The older man just crouched down, gesturing Luffy over.

"I can't give you a shoulder ride, but everyone should know what a piggy back is like at least once in their lives." Ace said, watching as Luffy stared dumbly at him. "C'mon, hurry up or my legs will cramp and I won't be able to get up."

In a flash Luffy was behind him, hands settling on Ace's shoulders but not hoisting himself up quite yet.

"You sure?" He whispered. Ace grinned at nothing in particular, nodding and holding up his hands.

"Course I'm sure."

And with that, Luffy flattened himself against Ace's back, hands winding around Ace's shoulder's as he swung his legs up. Ace was ready, hooking his hands under Luffy's knees before standing up in one smooth motion.

"Woah." Luffy said, breath puffing out against Ace's ear as he settled his chin into the crook of Ace's neck. He took a moment to adjust, hoisting Luffy a little higher up his back and sliding his hands further up the kid's thighs so he wouldn't slide back down.

"Feel alright? Not uncomfortable?" Ace asked, taking a few experimental steps before realizing he could carry Luffy home no problem.

"Yeah, no, this is great! I'm not heavy?" Luffy asked, voice a whole different level of close. Ace snorted, picking up the pace a little before going as far as to jump up and click his heels together before resuming their walk.

"Feathers weigh more than you." Ace teased, earning himself a huff from the boy. Luffy squirmed on his back, clutching tighter to Ace before seeming to trust him and fall lax, letting Ace properly support his weight. His feet hooked around Ace's waist and the only thing Ace could think about was how flexible the kid was.

"I'm not that light!" Luffy protested, and Ace actually let out a laugh. It was deep and throaty, the sound drifting out into the evening air and echoing around them.

"Really? Because I don't feel like I'm carrying anything at all." Ace continued, keeping up a decent pace towards home. Luffy was silent for a moment before his own little giggles came pouring out.

"You laughed! Really laughed" He crowed, throwing a hand up in the air and cheering loudly. Ace, realizing the kid was right, let out a contemplative hum.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, I mean, I couldn't remember what your laugh sounded like. And I wondered, because laughs are important, yanno? But it's not like I could just ask you to laugh. It just had to happen. I was starting to worry you wouldn't ever." Luffy said, voice casual but different somehow. Ace identified a hurt there, old or new he couldn't be sure, but an injury none-the-less. He leaned over further, letting Luffy slump against him a little more before pressing their cheeks together.

"Sorry." Ace answered, for lack of anything better. Luffy had these little edges to him, like a collection of scrapes and bruises that Ace would accidentally press on every now and then. It was strange, because whenever it happened Ace would feel the sting too, groping with the desire to make it right but not knowing how.

"It's alright. You should laugh more though, I like the way it sounds." Luffy commented, fingers fiddling with the zipper of Ace's hoodie. Ace felt something warm roll through him, a brief wave of contentment that almost made him dizzy.

"I'll keep that in mind." Ace said eventually, spotting their house come into view. They walked quietly for a while, Luffy tying and untying the strings on his sweater as Ace made his way up the front steps.

He hopped off on his own once they reached the front door. When Ace turned to face him, he found Luffy pink cheeked and smiling, rocking on the balls of his heels and rubbing his arms.

"I had a lot of fun. I mean, that was fun. Can we do that again, maybe?" Luffy asked, looking earnest and hopeful and vaguely adorable. Ace felt himself smile, reaching out to ruffle Luffy's hair before smoothing it back into place.

"Sure, you're carrying me next time, though." Ace said, watching as Luffy's jaw dropped slightly.

"You'd crush me!" He cried out, raising his hand to wildly gesture at Ace's entire frame. Ace chuckled, digging his keys out to unlock the front door. Luffy was snickering again, making pleased noises as Ace swung the door open.

"You should smile more too. You don't smile enough." Luffy commented, following Ace inside. Ace turned to him, amused expression already in place.

"That right? Why, you like that too?" He said, fully intending to tease Luffy. He was met with a confused expression, Luffy pausing the removal of his jacket to look seriously at Ace.

"Obviously." The kid answered, hanging up his coat. It only caused Ace to turn red, taken aback at the sudden reminder that Luffy could be quite frank when he wanted to. Luffy either didn't notice or didn't care, face lighting up at something Ace figured Luffy was about to tell him.

Instead, Luffy stepped passed him, disappearing upstairs before Ace even had the chance to slip off his shoes.

* * *

><p>In his room, Ace was stuck replaying the afternoon and subsequent evening as he stripped into shorts and a long-sleeved shirt. It wasn't just Luffy who'd had a good time. Ace had honest to goodness enjoyed himself, something that rarely happened outside his group of friends. Even then, they didn't have the same kind of innocent fun.<p>

Luffy was, for the most part, interesting to be around. Nothing he did seemed to be without reason, no matter how small the explanation was. He was bright and loud and had decided somewhere along the way that Ace was someone important.

Ace wasn't delusional, he knew he had lots of people in his life that cared about him, ranging from his mother to his friends. But there was something different about it coming from Luffy; a person who, for all intents and purposes, knew little to nothing about him. It was strangely flattering that Luffy, someone who seemed so taken with almost everything and everyone around him, would have it in him to focus on Ace.

He scrubbed at his face, shaking the thoughts out of his head and moving towards his door. He needed to brush his teeth and read a chapter or two for class tomorrow.

When he opened his door though, he found Luffy standing outside, hand poised as if to knock and clad in his own shorts and t-shirt.

"I was about to knock," Luffy said redundantly. Ace smirked, leaning against his doorframe and crossing his arms.

"I figured as much." He said. To his surprise, Luffy actually ducked his head, the tips of his ears turning pink as he shuffled his feet. Immediately, Ace felt concern rising in him.

"Do you need something?" He asked, hedging around asking Luffy outright if he was alright. He was worried about turning into the obsessively protective brother. No one liked those. Luffy seemed unaware of his general chain of thought, just nodded and stared at his feet.

"I, well, I know you're not really supposed to ask? But I did the first time anyways, even though everyone says you're just supposed to let it happen or something. But I'm bad at that, and it's been weeks, and I was wondering if it'd be okay if I hugged you again?"

Ace thought it was important to note that Luffy still wasn't looking at him, bright eyes fixed on a point somewhere on the ground. Ace couldn't tell why he was grinning, but grinning he was, reaching out a hand and drawing Luffy towards him in one smooth motion.

The kid seemed almost starved for it, arms immediately curling tight around Ace's neck, and face pressed into the hollow of Ace's collar bone.

"Course it's okay. We're family, you don't have to ask." Ace said, hands snaking their way around his brother's lithe form and resting on the curve of his spine. Luffy was quiet, leaning into Ace on his tip toes and nuzzling into the embrace.

Ace had the overpowering urge to rest his chin on Luffy's hair, so he did, leaning back against the wall and letting Luffy rest against him. He wondered, idly, how touch starved the kid was. He'd always been careful not to come into a whole lot of physical contact with Ace, which the older boy assumed was normal. Now, it seemed more like Luffy had been doing it out of some ill-informed notion that Ace didn't welcome his touch.

He let his hands drift up Luffy's back, palms flat and drawing Luffy just a little closer to him. Fuck, maybe it wasn't just the kid. Ace couldn't remember the last time he'd done something even remotely resembling this. Sure, he hugged his mother occasionally, but never did it stretch such an extended period of time. It felt good, solid and grounding in a way not a lot of things were.

After what felt like forever but was most probably just a few minutes, Luffy untangled himself from Ace and took a step back. Ace, despite the slightest whisper that told him to keep Luffy in the circle of his arms, dropped his hands and let the kid collect himself.

It took a moment, but Luffy finally met his gaze, grin wider than usual and looking absolutely pleased with himself.

"I liked that," Luffy said. Ace, tempted to respond with a 'no shit, huh?' carefully kept his sarcastic comment to himself. It probably wasn't the time to be toying around with what seemed like a delicately balanced moment.

"Yeah, me too." Ace said instead. He didn't think it was possible for anyone to look happier than his little brother in that one moment.

"So I'm allowed to do that whenever?" Luffy asked, because of course he'd want more. Of course he'd need that kind of reassurance about it. Ace shrugged, pushing himself off the wall and patting Luffy's shoulder.

"Sure. Do what you want, don't worry about it." Ace said, taking a step in the direction of the bathroom. "I gotta do a few things though, you should go to bed. If we wake up early enough I can make pancakes, how's that sound?" He said. Luffy nodded enthusiastically, already moving back towards his room.

"Sounds great! Night, Ace!" He chirped, waiting until Ace waved back before he shut his door. Ace pressed on, determined to make the rest of his night at least slightly productive. Besides, he needed to stop thinking about Luffy. The kid was taking up way too much of his headspace lately.

Ace wasn't sure that he disliked it at all.

* * *

><p>i'm sorry that was self-indulgent of me I just wanted them to touch some more<br>if you couldn't tell skinny/short luffy is my lifeblood  
>"family" *snorts rudely* u sure about that acey boy<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

have some more family time  
>gonna start slowing the acelu down a lil again because I PROMISED myself slowbuild<br>i'm a weak human being

* * *

><p>Ace woke up astonishingly early, more than an hour before his alarm was set to go off. Might as well get a head start on breakfast, anyways.<p>

He dragged himself up and out of bed, fumbling around in the dim light in search of his towel and a clean set of clothes.

Twenty minutes later saw Ace showered, dressed, and in the kitchen – trying his very best to make pancakes from scratch. He had a recipe open on his phone, squinting at the small text and debating whether or not to just grab the instant stuff out of the pantry.

He pressed on regardless, and halfway through figuring out how to use the electronic beater, he heard a key twist in the front door. Ace poked his head out of the kitchen, surprised to see Roger entering the house. Their eyes met, and for a moment, neither of them spoke.

"Ace." Roger said eventually, toeing off his boots and dumping his briefcase by the door.

"Dad." Ace echoed, setting down the mixing bowl and dusting off his hands.

"You're up early."

"And you're out late."

Roger let out a laugh, moving into the kitchen to observe the mess Ace was making.

"That I am. Work got heavy, I had to stay and deal with a few things. Thought I'd be able to creep in without waking anybody." He answered. Ace resumed his previous position, stirring egg whites into the mix and leaning against the counter.

"Other than Luffy. He's got a door thing." Ace said, eyes sharp in observing Roger's reaction. The man glanced up at him, the slightest hint of surprise on his features before something of a sad smile stretched his face.

"Mm, you know about that. He usually goes right back to bed, but sometimes, you know." His dad responded, sliding a chair out from the island and taking a seat. Ace sprinkled something that smelled liked a combination of nutmeg and cinnamon into the mix, finally setting the whole thing down and tossing the whisk into the sink.

"I was gonna wake him in a bit, but it looks like I don't have to now." He said, digging through three different cabinets before he came up with a frying pan. "Are you staying up long enough for breakfast?" Ace asked, setting the thing down on the stove and cranking the burner on.

Roger looked at the clock, before taking one longing glance at the stairs and nodding.

"Sure, why not? I make a mean omelette." He answered, grinning at Ace and receiving a smile in return. They both turned at the sound of someone descending the stairs, finding Luffy standing in the doorway and rubbing his eyes.

"S'bright down here." Luffy mumbled, shuffling over to Roger and patting his cheek a few times in greeting before gravitating towards Ace. The kid pressed up close, stifling a yawn against Ace's shoulder before peering around him at the bowl of batter. "Z'at the pancakes?" He asked.

"Almost. Go shower, wake up a little, by the time you're back down some of them should be ready." Ace suggested, placing his hand on Luffy's back and gently nudging him back towards the stairs. Luffy made a noise that sounded like a complaint, reaching back to grab at Ace's hoodie and halt his progress.

"Make me some with chocolate chips?" He asked, looking sleep-mussed and hopeful and how was Ace supposed to say no to that?

"Sure, I'll dig some out. Go, don't forget to brush your teeth."

"I'm not a kid." Luffy grumbled, but finally ceded to Ace's pushing and wandered back upstairs. Roger sat quietly, staring at Ace for a moment before nodding at nothing in particular.

"You two get along well." His dad said, standing and making for the fridge. Ace shrugged, maneuvering around him to get to the pantry and hoist out what would predictably be stale chocolate chips.

"He's hard not to get along with." Ace replied, victoriously extracting a half-eaten old bag of the things. Roger didn't reply, just set about yanking various vegetables from the fridge, placing down a cutting board and getting to work.

They worked around each other well, and half an hour later found them with four frying pans full of miscellaneous breakfast items ranging from eggs, to sausages, to hash browns. It was looking more and more like they were going for the full breakfast.

When Luffy appeared downstairs again, it was with their mother in tow, expression of absolute delight on her face as she took in the kitchen.

"You made breakfast!" She said, gathering Ace into a hug and pressing a noisy kiss to his forehead. He had to bend down for it, but the smile on her face was worth it. She moved to Roger, the man sweeping her into an embrace that had her laughing out loud. "I never thought I'd see the day!" She exclaimed, eyes crinkling at the corners when Roger pressed his lips to her cheek.

Ace gestured Luffy over, handing him a stack of plates and tipping his head towards the island.

"Set this up? Everything's basically done. Don't forget to grab the syrup out of the fridge." He instructed, Luffy offering him a mock salute as he balanced the four plates in one hand.

"Got it!" He answered, setting the dishes down and digging through the fridge before coming up with the bottle and a container of blueberries. "Oooh, can we have these too?" He asked. Ace turned to him, scraping all the hash browns into a large bowl and nodding.

"Sure, wash 'em first. Mom, go sit down, we'll handle everything." Ace said, passing the bowl to his dad as Luffy weaved around him to get to the sink.

It was a little crowded, and a little hectic, but it was warm and it was _family_. Ace, despite his previous misgivings, found himself rather thankful they were all gathered under one little roof.

"I can set down the silverware, at least." Rouge said, hands already full of various cutlery and arranging it neatly.

By the time everyone had sat down, half of the dishes were already cooling. The breakfast island was small, definitely not made for four people, but they made it work. Luffy had crammed himself in next to Ace where they sat across from their parents.

Bowls were passed and plates filled, Luffy building a giant stack of food that consisted mostly of chocolate-chip pancakes. They ate and chatted, Luffy stealing food off Ace's plate and Ace pretending he didn't notice.

It was nice. More than nice. It was great. They hadn't all sat down together since dinner a few weeks ago, and Ace could see himself getting used to this.

"We should do this once a week." His mother suggested, hand clasped loosely with Roger's on the table. "We're a family now, and we should start acting like one." She stated firmly, clearly leaving no room for argument. Not that anybody was about to. It was clear they were all enjoying themselves.

"Your mother's right. Maybe it won't always be the same day or the same time, but we need to spend more time together." Roger said. Luffy was all smiles, arm pressed up against Ace's as he nodded.

"That sounds great. Ace can make pancakes again!" Luffy suggested, another forkful disappearing into his mouth as Ace flicked his ear.

"Hey, you're helping next time." He said. The kid didn't seem to have a problem with it, leaning into Ace's side and licking his fork clean of syrup with a grin on his face.

* * *

><p>Once breakfast ended, it was back to the routine. Their dad disappeared upstairs, predictably to get some sleep, while Ace busied himself with loading up the dishwasher. They'd all thankfully woken early enough that they didn't have to rush into getting ready to leave.<p>

Rouge had work, murmuring something about a patient and an emergency session before vanishing herself. Luffy hovered, helping Ace wash and dry the pans that weren't dishwasher safe. He kept bumping into Ace, elbows knocking together or hips pressed tight before he'd shift away. Ace figured it was less of an accident and more Luffy assuring himself that he was allowed to do that kind of thing.

When the kitchen looked presentable, Ace let out a breath and leaned against the counter. Luffy hopped up next to him, legs dangling off the edge as he dried his hands on his shirt.

"Are you picking me up today?" Luffy asked. Ace didn't answer right away, thinking about his own schedule before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, if my class lets out on time." He said eventually, pushing off the counter and turning to face Luffy. The kid had an excited smile on his face, reaching his hands out and gesturing Ace a tiny bit closer. The older boy followed, eyebrow raised as Luffy's fingers curled around the fabric of his sweater, hauling him close in a rather unexpected hug.

Ace let himself go with it, hands linking behind Luffy as the kid buried his face in Ace's shoulder. "Thanks for the pancakes." He said, voice muffled by Ace's sleeve. Ace let his head tip to the side, bumping against Luffy's as his palms pressed against Luffy's back.

"Anytime. C'mon though, we've gotta get moving." Ace said, sweeping Luffy off the counter in one deft motion. Luffy landed on the floor with a giggle, hands releasing Ace and a dopey smile on his face as Ace turned him around.

"Alright, I'm gonna go grab my stuff! I'll meet you at the car." Luffy said, making his way past Ace and up to his room.

* * *

><p>Driving Luffy to school was about as uneventful as always. The kid fumbled with the glove-compartment box, remained unsuccessful in opening it, and rattled on about the new challenge that burger place had. Ace, figuring it was going to happen anyway, offered to take Luffy back before their challenge expired.<p>

Luffy was all smiles about it, patting Ace's arm as he scrambled out of the car and towards the building teeming with kids.

The drive to his own school finally gave Ace a little breathe room. He couldn't help smiling to himself as he went over the events of the morning. It had been cramped and chaotic, but perfect in its own little way. Everyone had been so glad to be together, and there was nothing Ace wouldn't do to make sure that kept happening.

When he pulled into the parking lot of his college, Haruta was leaning against the entrance to the main atrium, casually toying with her phone and darting quick glances up. Ace made his way over to her, sliding her textbooks out of her hands so he could carry them. It was a time-worn tradition with them, and freed her up so she could use both hands to text.

"So, Namur's been picking up traces of Kidd's crew hanging out around Jinbe's neighborhood. It's mostly just speculation, but a few of us think he might be operating around that area." Haruta said, swerving out of people's way without actually looking up from her phone.

Smart of him, really. Jinbe dealt in the heart of what every gang in the surrounding area called the Cross Roads. It was, by all rights, a neutral area. It was a place that clearly marked the borders between territories, and what cities were under whose protection. If Kidd really had set up shop there, it would be extremely difficult to get rid of him without accidentally upsetting a neighboring crew.

"In addition to the run ins you and I have had with him, Teach was also seen getting into a car with one of Kidd's crew, Killer – something he failed to report to any of us. We're currently keeping an eye on his movements, just in case." Haruta fired off, forever the keeper of information.

It took Ace a moment to process her words, but when he did, he almost dropped all of their books.

"You had an encounter with him?" Ace asked. Haruta turned to frown at him, eyes widening a little as she pursed her lips.

"I didn't tell you? Oh, right, this happened after class. I got home last week to find my place trashed. Luckily I don't keep any of my info there, but after some poking around, it wasn't hard to find people that described Eustass himself in the area that day. A bit bold of him to try something so frank. Without proper proof though, we're hard pressed to actually make a move." Haruta explained, sliding into their classroom with Ace in tow.

"Any wires or bugs?" Ace asked. She clicked her tongue, searching through a few notes on her phone before nodding.

"Yes, just two. They were poorly hidden, but very high quality. Untraceable, even for Curiel. Every time we thought we were getting close to a source, it re-scrambled it and sent us to some remote area in Kolkata. We did a magnet sweep of my apartment just in case there were some we didn't find." Haruta explained, voice lowering as the rest of their classmates trickled in a few at a time.

Ace frowned, chewing his lip thoughtfully before clenching his fists.

"Something's gonna happen, I can feel it." He said, flipping his book open as the teacher strode into the classroom. Haruta just bit her thumbnail, frowning at her phone before snapping it shut.

"I think you might be right."

* * *

><p>Class ended with promises to keep Ace updated at the slightest shift in activities.<p>

He drove to the high school in a haze of worried thoughts, previous good mood completely wiped.

What was Kidd up to?

Ace parked, getting out and leaning against the hood to get a little fresh air and clear his head. They'd probably have to set up a few more lines of communication with the neighboring gangs. If Kidd was targeting Whitebeard, there weren't too many people that would be happy about it. If there was one thing they were strong in, it was allies.

He was snapped out of his thoughts with the arrival of Luffy, waving and calling out his name as he pulled another boy along behind him.

The kid was tall, a shock of green hair and a sour expression on his face. Ace recognized him almost immediately. Roronoa Zoro.

Oh shit.

He really should have listened more closely when Luffy was prattling on about his new friends. Of all the freaking people for his little brother to get involved with, it had to be them.

Zoro was looking at him in surprise, clearly trying not to show it on his face as Luffy introduced them.

"Ace! This is Zoro, he was the only one that hung around long enough to say hi. Zoro, this is my brother Ace!" Luffy said, looking at the both of them expectantly.

Ace, deciding that feigning ignorance was probably going to be his best bet, stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Hope my brother isn't too much of a handful." Ace said, gripping the other boy's outstretched hand in a firm handshake. Zoro just squinted at him, but seemed to quickly pick up where Ace was going with this.

"Likewise." He said curtly, dislodging Ace's maybe too tight handshake and turning to Luffy. "I'm gonna head to work. I'll see you tomorrow, and seriously, do your homework." He quipped, pulling a laugh out of Luffy as he wandered over to a beaten down looking truck and climbed in.

Ace wanted to curse and punch a wall. He'd run into Zoro and his crew of little ruffians on a few occasions. They'd been caught a few times in the deepest throws of a couple of Whitebeards stash houses, playing at stealing money and involving themselves in things that were far too dangerous for them.

Of course Luffy had made friends with them. Of course.

Whitebeard had brushed the kids off with amusement, speculating that maybe they'd join one day, one never knew. Ace hadn't cared at the time, but he was starting to wish he had.

Luffy was going on about something involving his class, but Ace didn't have it in him to pay attention at the moment. He suddenly felt stressed, like there were a lot of things he was going to have to start keeping tabs on. Why now? Why now of all the times shit could happen?

Luffy's chatter eventually petered out throughout the ride. Ace felt bad, but the most he could offer were monosyllabic responses. He just wanted to get Luffy home so he could go talk to Thatch. He wanted to know the last time those kids had been spotted near their territory. Besides, he needed to check up on that Shanks thing.

He wanted to outright tell Luffy that he should make some new friends, but that would require an explanation, and Ace wasn't quite ready to offer one of those up yet.

Instead, he pulled up in front of the house, nodding at Luffy to get out.

"I've got work, if mom's back already tell her I'll be home late." Ace said, wincing as Luffy's face seemed to drop. He didn't argue, just collected his bag and slipped out of the car without another word.

Ace, feeling like a jackass, resolved to pick the kid up some sort of treat on his way back. He drove away without looking back, feeling like if he did he'd do something stupid, like offer to take Luffy with him.

* * *

><p>When Ace pulled up to Marco's house, there were already a handful of cars parked around the place. There usually were. Everyone seemed to gravitate to either the main base, or Marco's place. If given a choice, people usually went with Marco. There was something about the place that felt like home, something a lot of their members didn't have.<p>

Ace shoved his way inside, hearing a chorus of mock cheers erupt when he got to the main room. They were clearly having a good time, bodies crammed in to too few couches, beers in hand as something outdated and violent played on the TV.

He couldn't spot Thatch anywhere, and turned down the offer of a seat. Marco caught his eye across the room, subtly gesturing towards the back porch and disappearing through the sliding door. Ace followed after him, clicking the door shut before dropping down onto one of the patio chairs.

"You're worried about something." Marco said. He wasn't asking, just giving Ace the opening to talk if that was what he wanted.

"Lots of shit is happening, we should all be a little worried. The situation with Kidd is really messing with me." Ace said, running both hands through his hair as Marco held out his beer. Ace debated, figuring he'd probably be fine with just one, but shook his head anyway. "Driving." He said by way of explanation. Marco shrugged, tipping the bottle back to his own lips and letting Ace continue.

"And you remember those kids from a couple months back? Zoro and Nami and them? Go ahead and guess who my brother's gone and started hanging around. As if I didn't have enough to worry about already, and now I've got to make sure he stays away from all this. I'm gonna go crazy, Marco." Ace ranted, standing up in his agitation and pacing around the deck.

"You sure all your worries aren't just really one worry?" Marco asked. Ace paused for a moment before tossing his hands up in frustration.

"Don't be cryptic, what do you mean?" Ace asked. Marco rolled his eyes, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and sliding one out.

"What I'm saying is, maybe you only really have one problem, and it's just keeping your brother safe." Marco said slowly, lighting up the thing before offering the pack to Ace. He denied the offer again, having quit a while back a reminding himself that he didn't _need_ one.

"How am I supposed to keep him safe if I don't even know when the threat is going to show up! Or even what it is really!" He yelled, immediately feeling bad about it when Marco just nodded, looking calm and understanding.

"That's your problem then. Find a way to better protect what's yours against anything." Marco said simply, draining his beer and leaning back to knock on the glass. In moments Vista was outside as well, pushing a beer into Ace's hand despite his protests and making sure it remained there.

"We'll make sure he's fine, don't mind Marco." Vista said, patting Ace on the shoulder and guiding him back into the chair. Ace let himself be seated, sighing into the neck of the bottle before taking a swig. "It will, unfortunately, cost you one picture of him." Vista added, grinning widely as Ace looked up at him.

"You're still on that? Geez, give me a second." Ace said. He slid out his phone, scrolling to Luffy's number and firing off a quick text without thinking. It was the same type of conciseness he'd take with someone like Haruta or Thatch, mostly punching it in on autopilot. Ace was rather used to asking for the things he wanted

'_send me a pic of ur face'_

Within minutes his phone chirped, Vista excitedly peering over him to catch a peek at his screen. Ace, realizing how utterly embarrassing that text was, turned a light shade of red before tapping on the message.

It was a picture of Luffy, for sure. It was just his face, eyes closed and grinning widely with a peace sign tossed next to his cheek. He was lying down in what was _clearly_ Ace's bed. His hair was all over the place, collar of his shirt making an appearance in the picture. Little jerk, he'd probably gone in there just to take the photo.

"Ooooooh! Marco, Marco look at him. He's adorable!" Vista cried, spiriting Ace's phone away to broadcast it to Marco. The other man didn't look nearly as endeared as Vista did, but cracked a smile regardless. Everyone seemed to when faced with Luffy.

Ace's phone went off again and he let Vista read over it, only reaching out his hand to grab it back when the older man started laughing.

"He truly is a delight." Vista said, letting Ace read over the message himself.

'_was that ok? should i take a diff one?'_

Ace snorted, tapping out a response in less than a few seconds.

'_nah that was fine thanks'_

He'd barely set his phone down for a moment before it pinged again.

'_whyd you need it?'_

'_that should have been your first question idiot'_

Ace didn't get a response right away, long enough to swallow half his beer and ask about how some of the new boys were doing. Eventually though, it went off again, leaving Ace to grab for it immediately.

It was another photo, this time Luffy frowning at the screen, nose scrunched up in indignation and _still_ in Ace's room. It was followed with a little message of its own.

'_ur the idiot!'_

Ace found himself laughing out loud, drawing raised eyebrows from both of the men he was sitting with.

"I take it you two are on pretty good terms." Marco commented, the smug bastard. Ace flicked the condensation off his bottle in his direction.

"Come off it, you were right, okay, happy?" Ace said. Marco just smirked at him, cutting a look over to Vista before standing and stretching.

"Very. You gonna come inside or stay out here all evening?" Marco said, Vista following him fluidly to open the door. Ace stood as well, tagging along after them. He had some time to kill, and besides, it felt like ages since he'd hung out with the crew like this. The same movie was still playing, something that may or may not have been one of the earlier Die Hard's.

He needed to unwind a little, even if only for a few hours. He'd make it home before midnight.

Ace plopped down on the couch, and if he spent the rest of the evening texting Luffy, no one but Marco and Vista were aware.

* * *

><p>is everyone okay with me adding a little conflictdrama to the mix?  
>i felt like the fic would be a bit bland without something going on in the background<br>sighs loudly I just want ace and luffy to kiss already


	6. Chapter 6

There's a moderately important timeline note at the end of this chapter  
>it get's pretty dialogue heavy near the end sorry<p>

sorry this took forever real life suddenly got kind of shitty  
>we're looking at one MAYBE two updates a week hopefully with school and work<br>i'm writing these as i go along tbh

* * *

><p>Days passed in a bit of a blur for Ace.<p>

Things got busy seemingly out of nowhere when both Marco and Vista got sent on a rat-hunt halfway across the country. Ace had wanted to volunteer, if only because he was always good at sniffing out a traitor. He'd been turned down and gently reminded of his current responsibilities.

And responsible he was. In between school, Luffy, and organizing the new recruits, he barely had time for anything at all. It was difficult, but it kept him busy and distracted. The less time he had to stew in his own thoughts, the better.

Luffy was growing bolder by the day, fitting himself against Ace's side when he was on the couch, or draping himself around him when he was moving around the kitchen. If there was one thing Luffy was warming up to, it was the concept of touching Ace.

The kid would steal snatches of contact whenever he could, and Ace honestly didn't mind as much as he should have. Luffy was warm and friendly and impossible not to want around.

He was getting used to it, and not just receiving it. He found himself reaching for the kid when he was near, squeezing his shoulder or ruffling his hair. Luffy was quickly fitting himself into a previously empty spot of Ace's life.

It kept Ace at ease because the more Luffy grew attached to him, the more time he'd spend at home and the easier it was to keep track of him.

The kid went out occasionally though, mostly with his '_friends'_. Ace was trying not to worry about it. They hadn't caused a scene in months, and there was a very low chance they'd involve his brother if they did decide to go wild again.

He needed to let stuff go, there were only so many things he could stress about at once without overloading himself.

* * *

><p>It was a stray Saturday afternoon when Ace woke up late. Later than usual, anyway, pushing the boundaries between morning and afternoon. It had been an unusually warm night, despite the weather quickly getting cooler. It prompted him to strip down to just shorts before immediately passing out.<p>

Morning found him coated in a layer of dried sweat, feeling generally sticky and unpleasant and in dire need of a shower.

He emerged from his room, towel clutched loosely in his hand as he yawned. He missed seeing Luffy come out of his room, but he heard the intake of breath signifying that he wasn't alone. He tried to turn and offer a good morning, but suddenly there were hands on his back, keeping him in place.

"You have a _tattoo_." Luffy said reverently, fingers gliding against Ace's back. He felt a shudder rip through him, still half asleep and unfocused and enjoying the feel of hands on his skin. "Wow this is so cool." Luffy went on, tracing the outline of one of the bones.

Ace was still trapped in that in between mental state of 'this feels good' and 'what's going on?' He absently leaned back, emitting another yawn before murmuring, "V'got two, actually."

Luffy was searching over him in an instant, hands immediately skimming over his arm as he let out a delighted little noise. He was in front of Ace in moments, stretching out his arm and staring at the ink.

Ace watched as Luffy's eyes swept past his tattoo, ghosting over his chest before the kid promptly released him and had the gall to actually look a little embarrassed.

"You never show them off." Luffy said, sounding like he was explaining his behavior. Ace cracked a small smile, scratching at the back of his head and whipping his towel over his shoulder.

"Mom doesn't know about the one on my back. Besides, I barely own any shirts that don't have long sleeves." Ace said, observing Luffy's eyes track his arm as he moved. The kid seemed to abandon the notion of trying to _not_ stare at Ace, eyes roving all over the older boy and making him feel moderately self-conscious.

"I'm gonna go shower though." Ace said, sliding past Luffy and escaping to the washroom. It wasn't often that Ace was shirtless around anyone. He'd gotten so used to hiding the one on his back, that the one on his arm had followed easily.

Sure, he wasn't an awkward little boy anymore. He knew, rationally, that he could go swimming or wander around shirtless and still look _good_. But there was just something nerve wracking about having Luffy stare at him like that, eyes glued to Ace like –

Augh, forget it, he needed to shower. He'd already lost a lot of the day. And with his paper due in a few days, he really needed to buckle down and get some work done.

When Ace emerged from the shower, it was only to find he'd taken nothing but his towel with him. He usually brought his change of clothes so he could get everything done efficiently, but apparently not today.

Instead, he wrapped the thing around his waist, holding it in place and making his way over to his room. Unsurprisingly, Luffy was stretched out on his bed, a textbook propped open on Ace's pillow and his feet in the air.

Ace paused just in the doorway, Luffy's eyes wandering over to him again before flickering up and down. In moments he was looking away, frowning at his textbook as Ace meandered around in search of clean clothes.

He seriously needed to organize his room. It was getting progressively harder and harder to discern what exactly was still in the realm of mostly clean. And Luffy seriously needed to stop coming in here when Ace wasn't around.

"You usually change in the washroom." Luffy spoke up, drawing Ace's eyes over to him. The kid still wasn't looking at him, intently focused on whatever he was reading. Ace cocked his head, wondering what was up but lacking the motivation to investigate.

"Yeah, forgot my clothes." Ace explained, holding up a t-shirt upon realizing it was one of the only clean things left. He folded his towel over, making sure it was in place before shrugging into the garish orange monstrosity. He hated t-shirts. They left his arms bare and made him feel chillier than he preferred. All of his Henley's were currently sitting in the dirty hamper. Of course.

When his head emerged, Luffy was looking at him again, now frowning at Ace instead of the textbook. Curious, Ace slid a pair of boxers underneath his towel before depositing the damp thing entirely. He walked over to Luffy, running his fingers through the kid's hair and leaning down.

"There a problem?" Ace asked, watching Luffy tilt his head back, pressing his head into Ace's touch and letting out a small happy noise.

"Nah. You're just, you know, really grown up." Luffy commented absently, reaching up to loop his hand around Ace's wrist, encouraging him to keep up his ministrations. Ace smirked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and causing Luffy to slide towards him when the mattress dipped.

"I'm really not. Only twenty, remember? And besides, real adults definitely don't have economics papers due in four days and need their little brothers to get lost so they can focus." Ace said, tugging playfully on Luffy's hair.

Much to his amusement, Luffy whined, rolling closer to Ace and winding his arms around Ace's waist.

"Lemme stay, I'll be quiet I promise." Luffy said, eyes set to puppy mode as he pouted. Jesus, Ace thought, he'd like to meet the person capable of denying Luffy anything he asked. He struggled with it for less than a second, caving and untangling Luffy from himself.

"Fine, but you're staying off the bed." Ace said. Luffy was up quickly, making for Ace's desk and seating himself in the chair with a pleased look on his face.

Luffy stayed off the bed for all of five minutes. Ace had set himself up, laptop resting on his pillow as he read articles and typed away while lying on his stomach. It didn't take long before Luffy was climbing onto his back, chin resting on Ace's shoulder so he could peek at the screen.

Ace was tempted to tell him to get off, but somehow he couldn't find it in himself. Besides, Luffy was light, emitting warmth, and staying just as quiet as he promised. He was kind of like a blanket that way. He couldn't sit still for long though, hands eventually making their way into Ace's hair and pulling at odds and ends strands.

By the time Ace realized Luffy was attempting to braid his hair, the kid had rolled off. He wedged himself in between Ace and the wall, playing a little game on his phone for a few minutes before curling up against Ace's side.

Predictably, that's where he fell asleep.

Ace, alerted to the fact only because Luffy had stopped fidgeting and was now breathing steadily, stifled a laugh into his hand.

Instead of waking him, he continued working on his paper, figuring Luffy was going to be less of a disturbance asleep anyway.

* * *

><p>A few hours passed before they were disturbed. There was a knock at Ace's door, leading him to call out a quiet, "come in."<p>

When Rouge opened the door and stepped inside, she couldn't suppress the little coo that emerged from her mouth. Luffy stirred at this, pressing himself closer to Ace and letting out a sleepy grumble.

"Aren't you two just adorable? You both missed lunch, and I was wondering if you were hungry. I can let you boys sleep though." She said, looking far too pleased about finding her two grown sons bundled up in one bed.

"I wasn't sleeping." Ace said, feeling like that was an important point to clarify. Luffy, the traitor, yawned loudly, rubbing his face against Ace's arm before peering up at their mother.

"I was." He said, blinking slowly and glancing over at Ace. He looked tired still, eyes droopy and hair in a tangled nest around his head. The sleeve of his tank-top was falling off one shoulder, and he looked, well, kind of cute.

Ace winced the moment the thought entered his head. He reached out, covering Luffy's face with his hand and shoving him back into the mattress in a sudden wave of frustration.

"I have to finish this, Luffy will be down in a second though, so you don't have to eat alone." Ace said, comment aimed at getting the kid out of his room. He rolled off his bed, grabbing his laptop and moving it to the desk. He worked pretty terribly up there, but it'd probably encourage Luffy to actually leave his room.

"Alright, I'll set something aside for you later." His mother said, briskly leaving the room and going downstairs. Luffy pulled himself off of Ace's bed, rubbing at his face a few times before perking up. He swayed in Ace's direction for a moment, before seeming to come to some sort of decision and float out of the room instead.

Ace breathed out a sigh, resting his head in his hands and scolding himself. Geez, he was starting to turn into Vista. Yes, Luffy was a cute kid. And yes, he had his endearing moments. These things were facts, well, mostly. Ace was sure it wasn't just him. Marco hadn't even seen Luffy in person and even he'd cracked a smile.

Forget it. It wasn't just him, it was everyone, and it was _Luffy_.

* * *

><p>Ace got three quarters of the way through his paper before he finally quit. The sound of periodic laughter drifting from downstairs was distracting him more and more. Funnily enough, he'd gotten the brunt of his work done having Luffy asleep next to him.<p>

Ace scratched at his arm, pushing away from the desk and leaving in search of food. Just as he was leaving, his phone pinged, drawing Ace back to his desk to swipe at it.

It was Thatch, stating that it was imperative that Ace call him as soon as possible. Ace, figuring now was a good a time as any, grabbed his jacket off the floor and made his way downstairs. Luffy and his mother were seated in the living room, hands curled around mugs that smelled suspiciously like hot cocoa.

"Are you finished? Would you like me to make you a cup of hot chocolate?" His mother asked, spotting him and waving him over. Ace shrugged on his jacket, shaking his head as he reached her. Luffy was next to her, looking up at Ace expectantly. Both of them had twisted around and were facing Ace from over the couch.

"Sorry, don't have the time, I've gotta meet someone for a bit. I'll be back soon, yeah?" Ace said, bending down and dropping a kiss onto Rouge's forehead. His next movement was automatic, shifting to the side to press his lips against the crown of Luffy's head as well before straightening up.

Ace froze, eyes dropping to meet Luffy's as his mother giggled softly. The younger boy had paused as well, staring up at Ace with his mouth hanging open before slowly, ever so slowly, his face broke into an ear splitting grin.

Ace flushed red, immediately turning on his heel and making towards the door.

"I'll wait up!" Luffy called after him. Ace refused to answer in his haste to jam his feet into his sandals and escape out the door. The night was a bit chilly, and Ace huddled deeper into his jacket. He wanted to go back and get his shoes instead, but sheer embarrassment stopped him.

Instead he called Thatch, determined not to let his thoughts stray as he wandered away from the house. The moment the other man picked up, he was all excitement.

"_So, you know that name you sent me, right? Shanks? Well, I think you're going to want to hear this in person. Meet me at Krab's Shack in twenty?"_ Thatch's voice buzzed in Ace's ear. He was on alert almost immediately, backtracking towards his car and clambering in.

"Sure, see you then." Ace said, hanging up and starting his car.

* * *

><p>By the time he got there, Thatch was already waiting outside, pulling Ace into the mostly empty diner and seating them at a small booth removed from any of the other patrons. They waved away the waitress who appeared almost immediately.<p>

"So, when I tried asking around, I got nothing. Zero, zilch, nada. Nobody had any idea who Shanks was, not even Haruta. Just my luck though, Whitebeard overheard me asking and sat us all down for a little story time." Thatch started, pouring himself a cup of coffee out of the pot the waitress had discarded before her hasty retreat.

"Turns out Shanks is only the name his closest friends know. Turns out that we, the common folk, all know him as Akagami." Thatch said triumphantly.

Ace tipped over the entire container of sugar he was reaching for, spilling the white granules all over their table.

"_Red-Hair?_" Ace hissed, eyes wide as saucers and vaguely unable to believe that this was really his life. This was really happening to him.

"Yeah, him and Whitebeard go way, waaaaaay back. Old drinking buddies or something like that. They've got crazy history. Never would have guessed the great Eastern powerhouse would be friends with our very own Northern leader. How'd you hear the name, anyhow?" Thatch asked, sweeping the sugar off to one side and accessing the powdered creamer instead.

Ace stared blankly at him for a moment, mouth turned down at the corners in defeat.

"My brother. He's friends with my brother." Ace said simply, slumping down in his seat and letting his forehead land on the table with a dull thud.

"Woah, seriously?" Thatch said, voice sounding amused and not nearly as concerned as Ace felt.

"Yeah, pretty sure. Fuck, I have absolutely no clue what's going on with the kid, you know? First, he doesn't say a word about what he saw when Kidd showed, second he's made friends with the very same kids that play at being thugs, and third he's apparently buddies with one of the most powerful men around. Either I'm crazy and these are just a bunch of coincidences, or I need to talk to him." Ace vented, itching to talk to Marco and groaning when he remembered the older man wasn't there.

Thatch pursed his lips, frowning at his coffee and reaching over to pat Ace on the arm.

"You know what Marco says about coincidences. The universe is rarely so lazy." Thatch commented, slurping at his drink. Ace looked up at him, pulling a face and sitting up straight.

"You're right. I'll head back, probably talk to my dad first. If Shanks is a family friend, then he'll be more likely to have clearer answers." Ace said, visions of Luffy deflecting his questions and escaping all too clear in his mind.

* * *

><p>When Ace got home, the house was dimly lit. He was about to check the locks when a head appeared over the back of the couch.<p>

"You're back." Luffy mumbled, scratching his cheek and yawning. He'd clearly been asleep on the couch, and Ace seriously wondered how many hours a day Luffy could nap if it wasn't for people coming in and out.

"Yeah, it's late though, you should go to bed." Ace said, looping around the couch and stretching out his hand. Luffy latched on to it, pulling himself up and slumping against Ace's chest.

"You smell like coffee." He muttered quietly. Ace guided them in a slow shuffle towards the stairs before giving in and just picking Luffy up entirely. The kid latched onto him immediately, legs looping around Ace's waist and head resting limply on his shoulder.

"I know." Ace replied absently, climbing up the stairs while attempting not to drop the boy wrapped around him. He slid his hands under Luffy's ass, hoisting him a little higher and sighing at himself. When had he become so adept at dealing with the extent of Luffy's laziness?

Two steps away from the kid's room, the door to the master bedroom swung open, a slightly stunned looking Roger emerging. His expression quickly melted into something much more amused and fond. Ace, on any other day, would have been embarrassed. Instead, he leveled his dad with a serious look, tilting his head in the direction of the stairs.

"We need to talk." Ace said, watching his dad's face slowly fall into something much more knowing.

"Alright." The man said, stepping around Ace and his handful and heading downstairs. Luffy, already fast asleep on Ace's shoulder, just shifted slightly as Ace continued on and tucked him into bed. He didn't rouse as Ace stepped out, clicking the door shut behind him.

When he made it downstairs, Roger was seated in the kitchen, mug of something hot and steaming in front of him. Upon moving closer, Ace detected the scent of coffee curling up into the air.

"Instant stuff." His dad explained. "You want a cup?"

Ace shook his head, pulling out a chair and heaving out a heavy sigh. A part of him didn't want to do this. A large part of him wanted to pretend that his family wasn't involved with gang activity. Apparently that wasn't an option any longer.

"How do you know Red-Hair?" Ace started, figuring there was no use hedging around the issue. He wanted answers, and the surest way to get them would be directness.

Roger, unsurprisingly, looked like he'd been expecting something along those lines. He clutched at his cup, spinning it around a few times before falling still. Two coffee conversations in one day, Ace was on a roll.

"He's an old friend. I used to work with him, many years ago. He's come up in the world since we last spoke." Roger said evenly, voice level and controlled and not at all unsteady. "He was around a lot, watched over Luffy when I was too busy to. He's a good man, not like a lot of the rumors you hear." He added. Ace scowled at the table, fingers digging in to the smooth wood before he forced himself to relax.

"And now? Who do you work with now?" Ace pressed. His father looked at him for a moment, as if assessing whether or not Ace could become a threat. He knew that look, it was one Ace himself donned often.

"It's not that simple. I run an independent business, I have ties to many groups. You've heard of the King, yes?" Roger continued.

"Yeah, even we have dealings with him. Super elusive, barely anyone's met him face to face. Last I heard he was living back –" Ace froze, mouth dropping and eyes widening in horror and realization. "No way. No, absolutely fucking not." He choked out, pushing back from the table.

His father was smiling ruefully, eyes focused on something just past Ace.

"Oh my god. Oh my fucking god." Ace murmured, feeling not unlike his entire perception of reality had just been thrown out the window. And then stomped on, repeatedly. His dad, the King, holy shit this was too much.

"Language." Roger reprimanded automatically, talking a sip of his coffee and seeming to disregard his son having a major freak out right in front of him. Ace felt his chest tighten, throat constricting in what seemed like a panic attack. He'd never had a panic attack before. Could people die from those?

"Does Luffy know?" Ace grit out, trying to breath evenly and stay calm. Mostly calm, anyway. As calm as one could stay in this situation. God he needed – what did he need? To talk to Marco? To go out a break something? To start a fight?

"Of course he does, you can't hide anything from the kid, trust me I tried. Shanks had a big hand in that, answered anything Luffy asked him, despite my best efforts. He got involved early, but he's a tough kid, he can handle himself. Moving was so hard on him, he didn't want to leave behind the family he'd made for himself there." His dad supplied, looking rather sympathetic. Ace didn't know if it was for him or for Luffy.

"…Family?" Ace said distantly. He was about ninety percent convinced he was actually dreaming. Maybe if he slammed his head against the table he'd wake up.

"Mm, nothing big, just a small group playing at the adult stuff. It was nothing we ever worried about. Besides, Shanks kept an eye on him."

Ace fell silent, trying to sort through the barrage of information he'd just been offered. He was unsure if he felt more worried, or less, and it would probably take days to figure out.

"Wait, wait. Does he know about me?" Ace asked, because suddenly that was the most important thing in the world. Roger cracked a grin, actually letting out a low laugh and draining his mug.

"Of course he does. He's not stupid, despite what his demeanor makes you think. He probably noticed within the week, I know I did. Once you've been in this game long enough, you can spot the signs. Besides, I spoke to Whitebeard weeks before we moved here. Thought he'd like to know I was in the area. I flew here for drinks and everything."

Ace felt like a moron. He felt hysteria creeping up inside of him like vomit. He wasn't sure if wanted to laugh or throw up – maybe both.

"The old man knew! He knew! Of course he knew. Why wouldn't he know? It would only make sense that he'd know something this important and not tell me. He's probably having a laugh right now! This is all just one big _joke_!" Ace was yelling now, babbling and standing up in one aggressive motion before realizing he didn't have an outlet for any of the frustration he was feeling. Roger was frowning at him now, more confused looking than anything.

Ace wanted to punch him.

"Ace, please, sit down. He thought it would be best if you figured it out on your own. Don't make this a bigger deal than it needs to be." His father said calmly, face slipping into full authority mode.

"Bigger deal than it is? You don't think this is a big deal? I've been stressing about this for weeks! I've been going fucking crazy trying to figure out what the _fuck_ is going on with Luffy! And you expect me to stay calm about this? You're a fucking asshole!" Ace screamed.

"You'll wake your mother." Roger stated, the pinnacle of calm and collected. Ace laughed, loud and manic.

"I don't give a shit if I wake up the whole fucking neighbourhood! What? Does she know too? Was it let's just watch Ace lose his mind month?" He was losing it, and some distant part of himself was aware of this fact. He couldn't stop though, panic building into something angry and unmanageable.

"No, she doesn't know. And if you want to keep it that way, and keep her _safe_, you will stop this behavior immediately." Roger said, tone flat and starting took like just as angry as Ace felt. It wasn't heated, but cold and firm like he would do everything in his power to keep Rouge safe.

Ace deflated immediately, the image of his mother's sunny smile filtering through his brain. He felt like his notch had just been cranked from zero to a hundred and then back down again. He felt, well, tired, like he wanted to sleep for a couple months and pretend this sit down hadn't been his stupid idea.

His dad wasn't saying anything anymore, just looking like he was torn between being understanding and disappointed. Ace, unable to deal with whatever else his father was bound to say, quickly turned and practically ran out of the kitchen.

"Ace!" Roger called after him, but he didn't pause, just propelled himself upstairs and over to his room. He knew he was being childish, but he wanted to be out of there at the moment, and he couldn't do that until he'd gathered his shit.

"Everything okay?" A voice called out, startling Ace and causing him to turn before he entered his room. Luffy was standing in his doorway, looking wide awake and worried. Ace felt the anger rise in him again, words clawing their way out of his mouth before he could even think to reign them in.

"Fuck _off_." He bit out. They were just two little words, something that he'd probably tossed around playfully before. But not tonight. Luffy stumbled back like he'd been physically struck, looking for all the world like Ace had just kicked him in the stomach.

A pervasive part of his big-brother instincts wanted to kick in and apologize, but he stomped it out. Wasn't like Luffy needed to be treated carefully, anyway. He knew how to handle himself, according to Roger.

Ace slipped into his room, slamming his door shut behind him and pulling his duffle bag out from under his bed. He threw in anything he could lay his hands on, waiting for the _snip-click _of Luffy's room door shutting and the shuffle of his father coming upstairs. He listened as Roger paused at his door, Ace tensed to climb out of his window to avoid dealing with him.

Instead, the man kept walking, all the way down to the master bedroom before Ace heard that too open and shut firmly.

He was out in seconds, downstairs and out of the house before he even knew where he was really going. He didn't pause though, climbing into his car and gassing it. He didn't slow until he was a few blocks away, only stopping when he hit a red light.

The road was empty, and Ace was tempted to just put his head down on the steering wheel and hope someone drove by and collided with him. He groaned instead, moving along once the light turned green and driving on autopilot.

Before he knew it, Ace had driven all the way to Marco's house, only to realize that the older man wasn't even there. He had two options. It was either use the spare key he had and let himself in, or drive back home and go to bed and have to deal with his family in the morning.

Yeah, Ace was definitely going with option number one.

* * *

><p>if anyone is curious about the timeline, I'd set it around mid October. We're gonna be hitting the main events like Halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas, and new year's(ace's birthday) so stay tuned for those<p>

i'm eternally conscious about my writing being too boring  
>so thank you to all my reviewers that express their interest in this story<br>you don't know how much you guys keep me going!


	7. Chapter 7

Holy shit I am so sorry I had a major block with this chapter and school was hounding me  
>still not pleased with it but eh what can you do<br>THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE LOVLIES!

* * *

><p>Ace spent three days crashing on Marco's couch.<p>

He'd taken the time to text Rouge and tell her that he'd be at a friend's for a while. Other than that, he'd been studiously avoiding any and all text messages that Luffy had tried sending.

At first, Ace had read them, but that only caused him to almost give in to temptation to call the kid and do something dumb, like apologize. He was developing a pattern, it would seem. When it came to Luffy, his decision making process got a little less thought out and far more impulsive. The texts all seemed to be variations of asking what was wrong and saying sorry anyway, and it made Ace feel a mix between regret and irritation.

He'd emerged from the house once to drive over to Izo's, dropping a bag off from the depth of Marco's basement. The man had wrinkled his nose at Ace's dishevelled appearance, but had refrained from commenting. Ace wasn't in the mood to stick around for the inevitable judgment so he'd taken off. Izo should have been thankful Ace didn't just shut off his phone entirely. Forever the business man, or something like that.

The only thing that dragged him out of his cocoon of discarded pizza boxes was the fact that he had class the day after and still hadn't finished the paper that was due.

Ace didn't particularly care all that much about his grades, but he knew it was something he needed to keep up. If he wanted to be independent at some point, he was going to have to at least have a better ruse of a job than delivery boy. Besides, his business degree was coming in surprisingly handy in learning how to better deal with people.

Haruta would probably end up bitching at him if he didn't show, and he wanted to talk to her anyway. He hadn't caught even a whiff of Kidd, and needed to know if it was because nothing had happened, or someone had forgotten to inform him.

So Wednesday morning found him pushing his way out of Marco's house, squinting at how bright it was and in dire need of a shower. If there was one thing he hated, it was showering in other people's bathrooms.

When he climbed into his car, it took a bit for her to purr to life, but she started somehow. It was probably about that time of the year to get her checked out. And with winter approaching, a set of winter tires probably wouldn't hurt either.

Ace, despite having spent the past three days doing nothing but watch shitty reality television and trying to convince himself that he hadn't been betrayed, felt exhausted. He wanted a hot shower, a warm bed, and some type of vegetable. Cheese pizza for three days did not have the best effect on how drained he was.

It was early, just barely past ten, and Ace was hoping against hope that no one would be home when he arrived. He was pushing his luck, but the last person he wanted to deal with right now was his father. The man would want to talk, and Ace wanted anything but.

He knew he'd overreacted a little, but he was still frustrated for reasons he couldn't quite pinpoint. Something about the whole situation still left him feeling ruffled. He didn't feel as in control of the situation as he thought he had been.

When he pulled up to the house, there was one car in the driveway, and thankfully it was his mother's. There was the possibility that Roger's car was in the garage, but Ace was hoping it wasn't.

Upon entering, he was relieved to find that it was just Rouge curled up on the couch in the living room. She turned back, smile lighting up her face in a way that was rather similar to Luffy. Or maybe it was Luffy that smiled like her.

"Dad home?" Ace asked, kicking his shoes off and walking over to her. She turned her cheek, leaving room for Ace to give her a kiss.

"No, he left for work a little while ago." She said, wrinkling her nose immediately afterwards and gently pushing Ace away. "You smell horrible, go take a shower. Does your friend not have a shower?" Rouge asked, looking as distressed as any mom would when they realized their son hadn't bathed in a few days.

Ace let out a laugh, moving away from her hefting his bag higher up his shoulder.

"Yeah yeah. Is there anything to eat?" Ace asked, already halfway up the stairs.

"Leftover Chinese from last night!" Rouge called up. Ace physically cringed, dreading having to eat anything that greasy after his three day pizza binge.

Instead, he sought out a shower, deciding he still had some time before the afternoon rolled by.

By the time he was clean, dressed, and had a load of laundry going, Ace looked at the clock to find it was almost time for Luffy to get off school.

"Has Luffy been walking home?" Ace asked when he got downstairs, rummaging through the fruit basket to find an apple.

"I think he got a ride from one of his friends. Nice boy, a bit of a strange hair color though." Rouge answered absently, flipping through channels on the T.V. before settling on something that looked embarrassingly similar to what he had been watching the past few days.

Ace frowned, summoning the image of Zoro to mind as he washed his apple. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with Luffy hanging around that group, and figured it would probably be best to go get him. He'd probably have to get used to the concept. Knowing what he knew now, Luffy had managed to find the niche that was most comfortable for himself. Still, Ace didn't stop himself from turning out of the kitchen and wiping his apple off on his sleeve.

Besides, a tiny nagging part of Ace was anxious to see the kid. It'd been a while, and he'd already gotten used to having Luffy around almost constantly. He wondered if Luffy would be mad at him. He wondered if he was still mad at Luffy. Honestly, he couldn't really discern why he'd been angry at the kid in the first place.

Instead of thinking about it, Ace bit into his apple, sliding into his shoes and waving a goodbye to his mother. There wasn't much use in dwelling on it, and if he was late he might not make it before Luffy left.

* * *

><p>When he got to Luffy's school, there was a small stream of kids just beginning to leave the building. Instead of looking for Luffy, it was easier to keep an eye out for more brightly colored heads of hair. Last he remembered, Nami had been a vibrant red-head.<p>

It wasn't long before Ace spotted the group of them, five heads bobbing along the sea of other students and emitting a surprisingly identifiable stream of chatter.

Ace recognized the moment Luffy spotted him. The kid stopped mid-sentence, hand halfway raised in a gesture and eyes wide like he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Ace saw his mouth move, one tiny syllable that could have been anything, but somehow Ace knew was Luffy mouthing his name.

Suddenly, he had an arm full of teenager, unsure as to when Luffy had crossed the distance between them and violently flung himself at Ace. The kid wasn't saying anything, just had his face pressed deep against Ace's shirt and refused to move. Ace felt his expression melt into one that was grudgingly fond, smiling warmly down at the boy huddled against him.

"Hey, people are staring. You gonna stand there all day?" Ace said eventually, after he'd given in and rested his hand on Luffy head. The kid pulled away, frowning up at Ace with red-rimmed eyes. He looked like he was trying not to cry, and Ace felt incredibly guilty.

"Luffy! Luuuuuffyyyyyy!"

Luffy turned around, one hand still stubbornly fisted in the front of Ace's shirt like Ace might disappear if he let go.

"Sorry! I'm gonna skip the arcade, maybe next week, yeah?" Luffy called out, barely hesitating. Ace was strangely warmed by the fact that his little brother was willing to bail on his friends in favor of him.

"Your loss!" A blond called back. They all seemed to take one hard look at Ace before wandering off in the direction of the main town.

"You're gonna have to let go eventually, you know that right?" Ace said with a smirk. Luffy wasn't having any of it though, hand slowly uncurling from Ace's shirt and retreating to his sides with a hurt expression on his face.

"I thought you weren't coming back." Luffy said bluntly, eyes still red and looking like he might honestly break down at any moment. Ace's smile fell away immediately. He reached out, tracing the curve of Luffy's cheek before patting it gently.

"I always come back. C'mon, we can talk in the car." Ace suggested, feeling more than a twinge of guilt and responsibility concerning Luffy's overall happiness. The kid clearly had some serious abandonment issues, most likely from the departure that had happened when they were both far too young, and Ace hadn't meant to press that button.

Luffy seemed a little reluctant to part, but with Ace's gentle urging, he climbed into the passenger seat without complaint.

When Ace was in and the car started, Luffy was acting on habit. His arms stretched out, running against the glove box like he did every time Ace gave him a ride. Ace could barely keep his eyes off him. He'd missed this, weirdly enough. Missed having Luffy in that predictable little spot next to him.

"Dad told me what happened. Sorry." Luffy said suddenly. They had barely gotten out of the range of the school, and Ace watched him shift nervously out of the corner of his eye.

"It's cool, I overreacted." Ace said immediately, hating that Luffy looked even the slightest bit guilty or uncertain because of him. "Why didn't you say anything?" Ace went on, curiosity getting the best of him. The kid had turned to look out the window, leaving Ace to guess at his expression.

"You didn't seem like you wanted to talk about it. Besides, you're more than how you make a living. I figured I didn't need to bring it up. You seemed like you were trying really hard to keep us out of it and I didn't want to ruin that for you." Luffy explained. It wasn't rare for the kid to say something so intuitive, but by the end of it Ace was still clutching painfully at the steering wheel with one hand, other tangled up in his hair before dropping down to his side.

"I just wanted to keep you safe." Ace admitted, frowning at the road. Luffy turned to him then, and Ace shot him a glance only to find a bright smile on his face.

"I know."

"And I kind of flipped when I realized that I couldn't do that. Not the way I wanted, at least." Ace admitted, feeling vaguely like a failure. Luffy though, seemed determined not to let his thoughts dwell there.

"I get it. And it's cool, knowing you care and stuff. So like, don't worry about it." Luffy said simply, hands all twisted up in his lap. He was fidgety, shifting like he was worried Ace was going to take back everything he'd just said.

Ace, not knowing what else to do, reached out and patted Luffy's knee. He felt more than a little awkward doing it, but figured cheesy contact was better than no contact. If there was one thing he was learning, physical reassurance was something Luffy blossomed under. Instead of laughing like Ace thought he would, Luffy's hand ghosted over his before he squeezed Ace's fingers and released.

Ace was unsure as to why he couldn't look his little brother in the eye, instead placing both of his hands firmly back on the wheel without saying anything.

He wondered idly how it was that someone like Luffy could even exist. He was childish and fickle, but at the same time perceptive and accepting beyond his years. Kids his age should still be at the peak of their self-centered judgmental phase. Luffy was anything but. He was affectionate and playful and the best thing that was currently happening to Ace.

Flushing slightly at how much he was reading in to his little brother, he turned his thoughts onto something slightly more pressing. Like the fact that he should probably go to the grocery store and pick up a few things if they'd resorted to ordering out. It wasn't often that they got takeaway, and it couldn't hurt to pick up pasta ingredients.

"I need to hit the store. You wanna get dropped off first?" Ace asked, already taking the street that would lead them towards the run down little market.

"I'll stay with you." Luffy said firmly. It was decided then, grocery store it was.

* * *

><p>The place was orange. It was all orange.<p>

Okay, not literally, but it sure as hell seemed that way to Ace. There were Halloween decorations absolutely everywhere. It was like the holiday had vomited all over the storefront and someone had forgotten to wipe it up.

Luffy was ecstatic, practically bouncing up and down with how wired he was.

"Ooooh! Can we buy some decorations? Pretty please?" He begged, using his very best pleading face. Ace groaned, shutting his eyes against it and pulling Luffy away from the dozens of displays that had been set up.

"Mom's got a bunch of stuff somewhere in the garage. We don't need anything more than what she has, trust me." Ace answered, actually having to put some effort into tugging Luffy along by the hand. With a basket in the other, it didn't really free him up to grab things off the shelf.

"Grab a box of pasta, will you?" Ace instructed, dragging the kid into the appropriate aisle. Luffy pouted, but seemed decently placated at the promise of decorations at home. Yeah, if there was one thing they were stockpiled on, it was festivities. Rouge never failed to deck out their lawn for every occasion that it was appropriate.

Jesus, was it October already? How'd he lost track of so much time? The weeks seemed to just be slipping by without him noticing.

Luffy dropped two boxes into the basket and pulled Ace along from where he'd been day dreaming in front of the fibre enriched noodles.

"Alfredo sauce is on sale!" The kid crowed, holding it up for Ace's inspection.

"Knock yourself out, kiddo." Ace said, letting Luffy place the jar inside gently. They wandered over to the meat section, where Ace actually had to let go of the hand he hadn't realized he'd been holding for so long to pick out chicken that didn't look like it'd been sitting there for days.

"Garlic bread is an important part of this." Luffy chimed in after Ace had finally decided on a package that looked slightly less slimy than the rest.

"I guess. Can I trust you to go get it without coming back with candy?' Ace asked. Luffy was quick to make a face at him.

"I'm not a little kid, Ace." He said. Ace couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, says the _kid_ sticking their tongue out." He shot back. Luffy huffed at him, turned on his tail towards the bread section, and stomped off. Hopefully he'd come back with one of those premade ones where all you had to do was put it in the oven and then voila.

His phone chose that precise moment to ring, forcing Ace to put down the basket and root around in his pockets before he pulled it out.

"Hello?"

"_Are you going back to my house?" _Marco's voice fizzled through, sounding distant and grainy like the signal was jammed.

"Uh, no, how'd you know I crashed there for a bit? You back already?" Ace asked, a little surprised and miffed at the timing of it all. He would have been much happier if Marco had come back even a day sooner than this.

"_No, we're heading back ASAP. Apparently it lit on fire."_

"I'm sorry, what?" Ace said, world zeroing in on the word fire and sending him into slight distress mode.

"_My place. Fire. Most of it burned down I think, I'm not really sure. Jozu is bad at details. Haruta probably knows more than me at this point, I'm still trying to find out as much as I can."_

"Shit. I swear I didn't leave anything on, or lit for that matter." Ace babbled, feeling irrationally guilty.

"_I know. I'm just making sure you don't head back there. The whole block is on lockdown. You'll probably get called in for questioning, but hopefully we'll have it cleared up before that happens.._" Marco droned, sounding far calmer than Ace felt.

"Holy shit. How the fuck – do you know who – how could this have..?" Ace felt painfully lost, eyes instinctively scanning the store.

"_Calm down. We don't know much yet, but we have a pretty good guess. Just go home, make sure your family is safe. And seriously, finish your paper, Haruta won't stop nagging about your grades._" Marco said.

Ace, trying hard not to just dart out of the store, almost dropped his phone when he felt a gentle touch at his elbow.

"Ace? Everything okay?"

He turned to find Luffy, looking as concerned as ever with a loaf of bread in one hand and a bag of salad in the other. Oh, right, good the kid remembered salad. That was essential for pasta night.

"Yeah – yeah just – Marco? Let me know when you get back, okay?" Ace said, holding up a hand to his little brother for him to wait a second.

"_Sure. Don't sweat it, we're all fine. See you in a few days."_

Ace listened to the beep of the line going dead, absently directing his gaze to his brother and letting his hand drop down to his side. Luffy was frowning, clutching at the food in his hands and looking expectantly at Ace.

Instead of bombarding him with questions like he thought Luffy would, the kid just picked up the basket and jerked his head towards the registers.

"C'mon, we can pay and then you can go do whatever it is you need to." Luffy said simply, taking the lead and heading off in the direction of the checkout. Ace put his phone away, running both hands through his hair and trying to take a few deep breaths.

Right, pay, get home, text Haruta, see if there was anything he could do, make dinner. He had a plan, all he needed to do was follow through. He looked up, spotting Luffy waving from his perch in line. Ace, putting aside all thoughts of fires for a moment and decided to follow Luffy's lead for a bit.

* * *

><p>Dinner was a strange ordeal. Luffy, as it turned out, was an absolute terror in the kitchen. Ace had kicked him out within the first five minutes, yelling for Luffy to go occupy himself with something in the meantime.<p>

His mother had wandered in a little while later, resting her hand on Ace's shoulder before joining in the preparation. It was simple, really, but Ace took a certain comfort in her presence. She was his mother, and something as small as watching her make caesar dressing from scratch would always be comforting.

"I don't know if your father's going to be home in time for dinner." She sighed softly. Ace tensed up, frowning at the chicken he was frying in the pan.

"Doesn't matter either way." He said before he could help himself. Rouge didn't say anything immediately, just continued finding a larger bowl for all the greens. Eventually though, she drifted over to him, eyes gentle as she looked on.

"Did you two have an argument? Roger hasn't said anything, but I want you to know if you need to talk, I'm still your mother, you hear?" She said, looking earnest and just the slightest bit sad. Ace, always distressed at making his mother worry, looped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a side hug.

"I know, if anything comes up, you'll be the first to know, alright?" Ace said, smile on his face and lie bitter on his tongue. He took solace in the fact that her lips spread to match his own smile and she seemed content with that.

"Good, now how much longer? I swear, you take ages in this kitchen!"

* * *

><p>They settled down to eat at the table, Luffy babbling excitedly about the events of the last few days. They were mostly stories about him and his friends and what they got up to. Ace tried hard to pay attention, restraining himself from checking his phone every five seconds. If something important happened, someone would call him.<p>

When they finished, Rouge shooed them off to do the dishes herself, thanking Ace for the wonderful meal. He drifted upstairs in a bit of a daze, having received nothing back from Haruta, whom he'd texted before dinner.

He dragged himself out not long after, making his way to the bathroom to find the door open and Luffy brushing his teeth. He joined him, picking his toothbrush out of the assortment and flipping the tap on.

How domestic, Ace thought idly, scrubbing at his teeth as Luffy tried not to smile at him.

When they'd both finished, the split up into separate rooms, Ace changing into pajama bottoms and a t-shirt before making an abortive move towards his laptop. He _really_ needed to finish his paper, but couldn't find the energy to stay up and actually do it.

As it turned out, a knock at his door would make his decision for him.

"Yeah?" Ace said, walking over and pulling the door open. Luffy was standing there, surprisingly shy smile on his face as he peeked around Ace into his room.

"You going to bed?" Luffy asked, ducking around Ace and sliding into the room.

"Mmh, probably. I'm exhausted – don't think I can stay up for very long." Ace responded, scratching the back of his head and yawning as is to prove a point.

"Oh. Okay, you think I could maybe stay? Like, uhm, just for the night, or something." Luffy asked quietly, pointedly not looking at Ace. He was threading his fingers together over and over, eyes roaming the room like he was too nervous to sit still.

If he was being honest, Ace thought it was a little strange. Did siblings normally do this kind of thing? Sure, it would be fine if they were little, but they weren't anymore. Something about the whole thing sent a spike of unease through him and he had the sudden, irrational thought that he wouldn't be able to handle it for some reason.

Ace realized he'd probably been hesitating too long when Luffy continued speaking.

"It's weird, forget it, sorry. I just wanna be with you for a little longer. So maybe I could just sit, for a while and –"

He was cut off as Ace roughly pushed him towards the bed, causing the kid to stumble and fall onto it with a small yell.

"It's fine, just – if you hog the blanket I swear I'll kick you out in the middle of the night." Ace said, making a rash decision that would double as his apology. He knew that Luffy wasn't trying to make him feel guilty or anything, he knew that. But he was just so honest, and Ace wanted more than anything to make it up to him.

Luffy lit up like it was Christmas. He rolled over, grinning up at Ace like a doofus as he rolled to the far end of the bed.

"Promise I won't take up a lotta space." Luffy swore, crowding up against the wall and burrowing himself under the blankets like an efficient little ball. Ace sighed loudly, feeling like he should probably be more put-upon than he really was.

"Better not." Ace said, hesitating in the middle of the room before reaching to shut off the lights. He stood there for a few moments, frowning at the darkness and wondering why he couldn't just lie down. What about this was so strange?

"Ace?" Luffy called out after what was probably a considerable amount of time of Ace brooding against his wall.

"Yeah, yeah I'm here." He called out, finally pushing off towards the bed and placing one knee on the mattress. The bed dipped to accommodate him, groaning louder and Ace slid all the way in. He had a brief flash of a thought that made him want to sleep on top of the blankets, before he reasoned it away with how chilly his room was.

He lifted them slowly, rolling underneath and immediately coming into contact with the warm sphere that happened to be Luffy.

Despite having their backs to each other, the kid was quick to press right up against Ace's side. Won't take up a lot of space my ass, Ace thought distantly.

"I missed you." Luffy said softly, after a silence that stretched almost long enough for Ace to drift into sleep. He roused just enough to process the words, smiling gently in the darkness.

"Yeah, missed you too." He responded, voice whisper soft as he caved and let himself float into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Here have something cute bc I made you wait so long<br>Halloween in the next two chapters probably!  
>I had to cut this chapter off because it was threatening to turn into a monster and I really just wanted to put SOMETHING out<br>thanks for stickin with me ! :)


	8. Chapter 8

Here's a lil more of luffy being there for ace, and Haruta being awesome  
>for all those curious, yes ace DOES have the crossed out S in his tattoo and it'll be a plot point discussed at some point<br>sorry this took a hundred years life got busy, thanks for staying with me!

* * *

><p>When Ace blinked into awareness, it was to a mess of dark hair and a tangle of limbs. He was suffocatingly hot, wrapped up in the duvet and an extra set of limbs that didn't seem to belong there. It was only a few seconds before he identified the lump next to him as his little brother, and he couldn't help but groan.<p>

Luffy, somehow, had taken up three quarters of the double bed, seemingly torn between starfishing out and pressing as close to Ace as he could get. It was a miracle they both hadn't tumbled off the edge in the middle of the night.

The kid snuffled quietly, pressing his nose against Ace's chest before falling still again. His fingers had curled tightly into the fabric of Ace's shirt, holding them together in a position that would awaken Luffy if Ace attempted to move.

He was torn between wanting to crawl out of the nest of heat and into the shower to cool off, and staying here for a little while longer. It was stuffy and too close, but oddly comfortable at the same time. His alarm decided to take that decision out of his hands.

With a shrill cry, his phone went off, signalling that it was seven and they both needed to be up and get ready for the day. Ace groped for it, practically rolling off the bed and jostling Luffy awake in the process.

There was relative silence for a moment as Ace checked his phone over. "Wha time 'zit?" Luffy murmured eventually, lifting his head up slightly as Ace turned his alarm off.

"Just past seven. You want first shower?" He asked, squinting at the first feeble rays of sun just peeking through his blinds.

"No." Luffy said, burrowing himself back underneath the blankets. Ace smiled, fondness blossoming on his face as he patted the Luffy shaped mound under the sheets.

"Suit yourself."

* * *

><p>Luffy was sleeping again when Ace stepped back into his room. He had to boot him out half asleep so he could go wake up a little in the shower.<p>

Clad only in boxers, he wandered around in search of clothes before it hit him. He remembered that he'd forgotten a large load of laundry in the washer the day prior and grimaced at the thought. They'd most likely be a little smelly, which means they'd need a rewash before he could dry them.

He tromped over to the laundry room, only to find his clothes dry and neatly folded in one of the laundry baskets. Ace couldn't help but grin. Rouge, despite desperately wanting her boys to be responsible, just couldn't let a few of these things go.

He dressed there instead, sliding into jeans and a hoodie before finding his way downstairs. Breakfast was a quick, quiet affair; just a bowl of cereal and an apple while he listened to the shower running upstairs.

By the time Luffy made it downstairs, ready to go but still looking relatively sleepy, Ace had a bowl already set out for him too.

"I'm gonna drop you off a little early today, I've got a few things to deal with." Ace said, leaning against the counter as Luffy scooped up spoonful's of soggy cheerios.

"Kay, you picking me up after?" He asked around the food in his mouth.

"Yeah, we'll grab lunch at this diner you'll like. They have mega milkshakes in twenty different flavors." Ace added, not having to wait very long for a brilliant smile to light up Luffy's whole face.

"That sounds awesome! Geez, twenty, how am I ever gonna pick one?" Luffy asked, depositing his bowl in the sink and tossing a banana into his bag. Ace wanted to warn him about bruising until he remembered that Luffy would probably eat it anyway.

"They can make you little samples, if it gets that bad. I know the woman who runs it." She'd probably love Luffy. He was like a peppy version of Ace, sans freckles. And really, he'd like to meet the person that didn't take an instant like to him.

They both left out the front, Ace leaving Luffy to lock the door as he went to start the car. He tossed his bag in the back and put his keys in the ignition. Again, she was shaky starting, and Ace figured he really needed to call in and make an appointment. It would be the adult thing to do.

Luffy clambered in, buckling up and fitting his bag in between the niche of his legs. Ace, momentarily distracted by his presence, almost forgot to put the car in gear before he accelerated.

Once they were off, Luffy turned to gaze out the window, leaving Ace to debate whether or not he could write a thousand words in an hour. Really, it shouldn't be a problem. He just needed to finish it, didn't matter all too much if it was good or not.

As he pulled up to the high school building, he put his hand on Luffy's shoulder to stop him from leaving.

"Be careful, alright? Just – I know I haven't explained anything, but just watch out for yourself." Ace said, trying to look as serious as he could. Luffy, apparently, couldn't keep the same straight face. His grin was that of pure delight, and he twisted in his seat to grab at Ace's hand.

"I promise I'll be okay." Luffy said, all smiles as he linked their pinkies together in some makeshift little pact. Ace stared at their hands for a moment, giving Luffy's an extra squeeze before nodding.

"Alright." He said quietly, resigning himself to the fact that Luffy's word would have to be enough for him, at least for the time being.

"Cool! I'll see you after school!" Luffy said, retrieving his hand and clambering out of the car. He turned back to offer a smile and a wave before disappearing through the front doors.

Ace let his head drop against the steering wheel, inhaling and exhaling deeply in an attempt to keep himself centered. He was worried, concerned out of his mind. Things were starting to stack up, and he didn't know what to do about it. He didn't even know if there was anything he _could_ do about it other than protect those close to him.

Fuck, he couldn't spend too much time thinking about it. He was only twenty, and really he still couldn't believe this was something he had to deal with. Sure, he knew what he had been getting in to when Whitebeard took him in, but it'd never really hit home that this was something truly _dangerous_.

Shit, he really needed to get to the school so he'd have time to finish up his essay.

He texted Haruta quickly so she'd know to find him in the library rather than out front before pulling away from Luffy's school and towards his own.

When he get there, he pulled into an empty spot, grabbing his bag and heading in through the main atrium and towards the library. The room was full of people, some furiously working and others in large groups. He made his way past the severe looking librarians and on to the single seat divided desks. He preferred them to the more open tables, which mostly just welcomed unwanted study buddies.

He pulled his laptop out, pulling up the document that he'd abandoned all those nights ago in favor of talking to Thatch. Lot of good that did him.

He had close to an hour before Haruta was set to arrive, and figured he'd be able to e-mail the stupid thing by then.

* * *

><p>Ace finished earlier than expected, but upon checking his phone, he was pleased to find out that Haruta was already there and had taken up residence in the cafeteria.<p>

Ace gathered up his things and went to find her. It wasn't hard, considering when he got there, the only empty table available was the one Haruta was seated at, tray in front of her and eating what looked like a breakfast burrito.

"Did you finish it?" She asked, after Ace had taken a seat across from her and stolen her box of orange juice.

"Yeah, sent it out five minutes ago." Ace said, sticking the straw in and taking an obnoxiously loud slurp. She shot him a look, but continued to eat her breakfast.

"Good. I'm assuming Marco talked to you?" She said curtly, tapping out something on the phone perched next to her on the table.

"Yeah, didn't know much, though. He said you would." Ace said, voice coming out tight. Haruta looked at him, really looked, for a moment, before something almost sympathetic made its way onto her face.

"It's okay to be afraid, you know? We all are. Things like this don't usually happen around here. We're all a little rattled, and we grew up with this life. You aren't quite used to the violent parts of it yet, but it gets easier." Haruta said gently.

Ace, pushing down his first instinct to snap at her, just let his head rest on the table. He didn't answer, just let Haruta slowly finish her breakfast as people milled all around them. There was something oddly calming about being in the middle of a crowd with absolutely no one paying attention to him other than Haruta.

She was kind, and despite being the same age as him, she was much, much wiser. She'd grown up with the Whitebeards, and they had raised her just as much as her blood family had. And while not all members were part of it from so young, most had experience.

The only experience Ace had with violence was – fuck. He really didn't want to think about that. Not now, not ever.

"I'm terrified." He admitted quietly, voice muffled by his sleeve. A part of him was hoping it wouldn't carry, that Haruta wouldn't hear him and they would just drift to class. But she did hear him, and the hand she placed on his arm was a comfort.

"Good. That means you're finally taking this seriously. It means you're going to do what you need to in order to protect yourself, and everyone else. Remember that fear, Ace, we all walk around with it." Haruta responded quietly.

Ace, at a loss for what to say, just let her go on.

"We've lost all sign of Kidd. According to Namur, Jinbe hasn't caught even a murmur of them for roughly a week. It's almost impressive how they managed to drop off the grid so swiftly and completely. We've sent out a few scouts, but honestly it's the least of our problems right now." Haruta paused, snagging her juice back and taking a sip.

"Remember I told you we were keeping an eye on Teach, just in case? He managed to ditch his tails a few days ago, by the time we managed to catch up with him, his footsteps all pointed to the fact that he had been near Marco's place when you were staying there. We don't currently know if you were the target, or if it was another power play, but we're fairly certain Teach is involved in this mess. He managed to disappear again, and we have our suspicions he might be with Kidd." She finished.

Ace raised his head from the table, eyes a little wide with surprise.

"Teach? But why would he – I thought he's one of the few that's been with Whitebeard the longest?" Ace said, drumming his fingers against the polished white plastic.

"He is – was. We don't really have a firm grip on what's happening yet." Haruta supplied. Picking up her tray and moving to get up. Ace stood with her, eyes narrowing in suspicion as she walked over to the garbage.

"What aren't you telling me?" He called out. Haruta turned to look at him, emptying her tray and setting it on top.

"We don't have anything solid…" She hedged. Ace wasn't having any of it, he picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder before stalking over to her.

"Well what _do_ you have?" He hissed, grabbing her arm and forcing her to look at him. She pursed her lips, looking for a moment like she was committed not to inform Ace of whatever it was she was holding on to. Finally though, she let out a breath, shaking herself free and going to retrieve her phone.

"This is about you, Ace. We don't know how, or why, but everything seems to continue to circle around you. I didn't – I didn't want to say anything, but when my house got turned over, the only thing that was missing was your basic file. I mean, it was all easily accessible public info, but I think Kidd wanted us to know it was about you." Haruta said, face soft and looking like she was pleading Ace not to be angry with her.

He took a step back only to realize his legs were shaky. Haruta let him fall back onto the table, eyes blank and mind spinning in a dozen different directions.

Why him? What had he done to attract this kind of attention? How was he ever going to keep things from happening if he was the cause?

"Hey, hey stop freaking out. This is why no one wanted to tell you, I swear. It's going to be okay." Haruta said, voice drifting through Ace's thoughts like a hazy mist. Her hands were suddenly on his face, turning him in her direction with a perfect view of her stern face.

"Ace, seriously, don't do this. Yes, you're allowed to be upset. No, you're not allowed to panic. None of us have time to deal with you freaking out about this, and if you breakdown, how do you expect to get anything done? You're not a child and you shouldn't need to be coddled. You're twenty, man up a little, you've got people to protect." Haruta quipped, tapping his cheek lightly before straightening up. "And besides, we've got class in less than ten, and you are definitely _not_ skipping."

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, and a couple more for Ace to take a deep breath, stand up straight, and walk out of that cafeteria. It took everything he had not to leave and pull Luffy out of school early and keep him at home indefinitely.

If he was the problem, holing up his family at home wouldn't be the solution.

"Trust us a little more, yeah?" Haruta said as they walked into the classroom. "We've got Rouge and Luffy on around the clock surveillance. We tried it with your father, but he always kept losing it. Should we be concerned about that?"

Ace couldn't help but snort out a laugh as they took their seats, thinking about how confusing it must be for a man in his late forties to continually lose anybody that was following him.

"No, it's fine, he can take care of himself. Is there – is there anything I can do?" He asked. Haruta shrugged.

"Probably not. Just stay alert, let us know right away if anything seems strange. Don't brush things off as coincidence, chances are they won't be." She said, jerking her head in the direction of the door as the teacher walked in.

He started droning on about how many students had turned in the assignment, and that was right about when Ace tuned him out for the next handful of hours.

* * *

><p>Class ended and Ace tried to shake himself awake and simultaneously remember where he parked. It wasn't easy, but with exasperated guidance from Haruta, he found his car.<p>

"Please actually keep me updated this time?" Ace asked, leaning against the car door and fiddling with his keys. Haruta offered him a sharp nod before she let a smile take over her face.

"Sure. You coming to Vista's Halloween thing?" She asked. Ace stared at her dumbly before realization broke over his face.

"Right, right, the party." Ace said.

"You totally forgot, didn't you?" She said, eyes narrowing as she jabbed a finger into his chest. Ace held up his hands and offered her a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, lots of shit happening lately. I'll go. Just, uh, text me a couple days before or something. I can't believe he's still hosting them." Ace said, turning to unlock his car. He opened the door but Haruta seemed almost reluctant to leave him.

"Don't do anything stupid, okay? Lay low, don't try and figure all of this out on your own, you can trust us to fix this." She said. Ace's grin turned into a thankful smile, and he let his hand rest on her shoulder.

"I know. It's fine. I'll see you next week, alright?" He said, sliding into his car and raising his hand in goodbye as he reversed out of the lot. As much as Ace would have liked nothing more than to crash into the closest tree and wallow about his life, he had a brother to pick up and a lunch to go to.

He could keep it together.

* * *

><p>Luffy was all glee when he climbed into Ace's car, chattering about milkshakes and if he'd be allowed to mix flavors. Ace let him go on, half listening, half still focused on the talk he had with Haruta.<p>

Luffy reached out when they pulled into the diner, resting his hand on Ace's shoulder as his mouth quirked up into a little smile. He didn't say anything, just lingered there for a moment before opening his car door and letting out a delighted sound at the appearance of the diner.

"This place looks awesome!" Luffy said as Ace locked the doors, glancing up for a moment and grinning. He forgot, sometimes, how much effort Elmy had put into making the diner look as retro as possible.

"It's cooler inside, c'mon." Ace said, hand on the small of Luffy's back as he ushered them through the big glass doors. The inside really was better, and Luffy's small gasp of surprise was oddly satisfying. Elmy's diner was 50's through and through, ranging from the checkered tables, to the various pictures of old starlets plastered on the wall. Everything was either bold reds or muted pastels, colors that had been all the rage in a time before theirs.

It wasn't long before Elmy herself was poking her head out of the kitchen, eyes lighting up when she saw Ace standing there.

"Acey, darlin! What a pleasant surprise! How many months has it been? Could'a sworn you were avoiding me, boy." She called out, coming out of the swinging double black doors and wiping her hands off on a battered looking dish rag. She slung the thing over her shoulder, lumbering over and drawing Ace into a bone-crushing hug. She wasn't a small lady by any means, and her strength was apparent in her embraces.

"And who's this – oh! No, well I'll be, if it isn't the fabled little brother." Elmy said, after she'd released Ace. Luffy was all smiles, and Ace urged him forward after he rubbed the feeling back into his shoulders.

"Luffy, this is Elmy. She'll probably make you the best milkshake you've ever had in your life." Ace explained, barely getting through his explanation before the older woman scooped Luffy into a hug just as tight as the one Ace had received.

Luffy toughed it out like a real trooper, even going as far as to hug Elmy back. He grinned the whole way through, rocking excitedly on his heels when he was released.

"I'm allowed to mix flavors, right? I mean, that should totally be a thing. We could make a mega flavor." Luffy implored, and Elmy gestured for them to sit wherever they wished.

"Of course, hun, let me just grab you two a menu." She said. The diner was mostly empty this time of day, and the only people that really frequented it were the Whitebeard gang. He was tempted to sit them up at the bar, just to give Luffy the experience, but then remembered they were actually there to talk.

He chose instead to pull Luffy over to a booth near the back, ensuring they'd have a touch of privacy as they talked.

Luffy crawled in first, Ace taking the seat across from him and folding his hands across the table. Elmy was there in moments, placing a menu down in front of Luffy and winking at Ace.

"I'll grab you your usual, yeah?" She said, already moving away. Ace, ever one for routine, got the same thing every single time he was here. Triple chocolate shake and a side of fries.

Luffy was pouring over the list of things, Ace sitting back and observing him as he seemed to read over the list of milkshake flavors close to a dozen times.

"You gonna pick anytime soon?" Ace asked with a grin. Luffy looked up at him and scrunched up his nose.

"It all looks good, this is really tough." He complained loudly. Elmy, who was already sailing back with his own milkshake, had a large grin on her face.

"How about you let me surprise you? I've been meaning to try something new lately. If you end up liking it, I'll name it after you and put it on the menu, how's that sound?" She asked. Luffy looked absolutely over the moon about it, nodding his head and offering the woman a loud thank you.

Ace just sipped at his milkshake, watching his little brother with a warm glow. When Luffy turned back to him, he was al grins, reaching for Ace's drink to steal a few slurps out of the straw. Ace snagged it back before he finished it, which Luffy was definitely liable to, and set it aside.

"That was good, maybe I should have just gotten that?" Luffy said, looking unsure of himself.

"Trust me, whatever Elmy makes you will be just as good, if not better." Ace assured him. Luffy twiddled his thumbs for a moment before looking up at Ace again.

"How do you know her?" Luffy asked, elbows on the table so he could prop up his chin. Ace shrugged, toying with the salt shaker and figuring this would be as good a route as any to get at what he actually needed to talk about.

"This is where a lot of the gang goes to hang out. You get to know the owners after a couple years. Elmy's great, she's like a mother to the gang, always open and always welcoming. Also pretty good at stitching up an open wound." Ace said, watching his little brother carefully as he spoke. Luffy seemed relatively unaffected, smiling absently as he bit his lip.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Elmy swopped back in, setting down a plate of fries in the middle and a distinctly olive tinted milkshake.

"Take a sip, tell me how it tastes. If you figure out everything in it before you boys leave, it's on the house." She said, and they both watched Luffy take a large gulp before he absolutely lit up. It was a delight to see, and Ace had the sudden, irrational wish that he always wanted to see Luffy this happy.

"This is great! There's matcha in here, right? He said, looking up at Elmy with a grin. She smiled right back, nodding her head slightly. She always was the clever experimenter.

"You bet, one down, ten more to go." She said, walking back to the kitchen with a wave over her shoulder.

"Try some." Luffy said, letting Ace lean over and sample a little.

"Definitely mango in there too." Ace said, sitting back in his seat as Luffy took slow little exploratory tries of the drink. It really was good, though, maybe a bit too tropical for Ace's tastes.

"Mmh, but yeah, I was always pretty bad with stitches. I mean, I could do it, but they always ended up uneven. Dad can weave _super_ clean ones though, you wouldn't even have to go to the hospital after." Luffy said, looking almost proud at the statement.

Ace was a little surprised despite himself. He knew that Luffy was involved, but he was still trying to get a feel for how desensitized he was to all this.

"I'm pretty bad at them too. I can do a mean job with a stapler though." He joked. Luffy choked on his milkshake, a laugh shaking out of him as he made a face at Ace.

"You can _not_." He gasped out eventually, once he'd coughed all the liquid out of his lungs.

"Oh, I can, I've got the most ridiculous scar on my leg from it too." Ace shot back. Luffy looked absolutely thrilled at this info. Ace wasn't sure if it was because of what he was saying specifically, or the fact that he was talking to his little brother about it at all.

"Do you have to do it a lot?" Luffy asked. It was cute, almost, the way he was trying to be subtle about asking. Ace figured it wouldn't hurt to indulge him, not at this point anyway.

"No, not really. It's decently safe around here. Or, well, it was up until recently. Do you – how much, ah fuck. I don't know how involved you were with Dad. I don't know how much isn't going to freak you out." Ace said, running a hand through his hair and messing it up. Not like it had been neat in the first place. Luffy just sucked at his shake for a moment before shrugging.

"Dad tried to keep me out, at first. But Shanks – I should tell you about him sometime – he was super cool. After I did the thing with my cheek, he kind of took me under his wing. It was cool, in a way. I mean, lots of bad things happened, but it was like having a family, you know? Dad was really influential, but Shanks taught me a lot of the ins, and how to handle myself." Luffy explained, sounding incredibly casual about the whole thing. "Not much is gonna freak me out, Ace, you don't have to worry. I've seen a lot of stuff, whatever's happening right now can't be that bad." He said, sounding every inch in control.

Ace was, well, fuck, Luffy seemed more stable with the whole thing than he was.

"The problem is we don't really _know_ what's happening." Ace conceded. Luffy nodded slowly, training expectant eyes on to Ace. "Shit like this doesn't usually happen. Especially not with me as the target." Ace said carefully.

Luffy's eyes widened a little and he reached across the table, fingers trailing over where Ace's hand had come to rest.

"Is that why I've got a tail?" Luffy asked quietly. Ace jerked his hand back, widening his eyes a little. "It's okay!" Luffy went on. "I noticed 'em the first day, and was gonna tell you, but my friend Sanji pointed them out as your crew, so I figured it was more of a safety thing." Luffy explained, moving his hand back to twirl his tall glass.

Jesus, this kid was perceptive. Most people didn't notice small things like that. But then again, this wasn't Luffy first dip into this life. It was starting to seem like he'd had just about the same amount of experience as Ace did with it.

"Yeah it's a safety thing. I want to be sure you're okay at all times. Sorry, I know it's a little intrusive." Ace admitted, feeling a little bit stupid for being so surprised. Luffy just smiled at him, like always. God knows what it would take to offend the kid.

"S'okay, really, I don't mind it." Luffy said, snagging a couple fries and chewing away.

"It's just – with things happening and Kidd on the loose, it's hard to keep an eye on you all the time." Ace admitted. Luffy seemed to completely freeze in place for a moment before he leaned forward.

"Wait, wait, wait… Eustass?" Luffy said slowly. Ace's gaze was suddenly sharp, and he bent quickly over the table.

"You're familiar with him." Ace said, not asking a question. Luffy was frowning gently, worrying at his lip and looking at the table.

"Vaguely? I was pretty young, and I don't remember a whole lot. But he hurt Shanks, once. I remember a lot of blood, maybe, but then again they both have red hair so maybe it was that…" Luffy said quietly, fingers twisting around each other on the table. Ace was suddenly all big-brother worry, reaching out and stilling Luffy's hands.

"Hey, it's okay, don't think too hard about it, it's got nothing to do with what's happening now." Ace said softly, mildly concerned at the distressed look on his brother's face. He tried to sound more confident about it than he felt. Luffy didn't look convinced though, and he was shaking his head lightly.

"No, I – I think Kidd is a bad sign. He's really dangerous. Maybe –" He paused, flipping his hands to casually slip his fingers in between Ace's. "Maybe you should consider telling Dad?" Luffy suggested, looking for some reason like he was bracing for Ace to shout at him. Ace, unsure what else to do, squeezed his little brother's hand.

"I'll talk it over with Whitebeard instead, yeah? He knows Dad, and I've been meaning to ask him about their relation anyway. When I'm there, I'll bring it up, alright?" He suggested instead. The last thing he wanted to do was bring Roger into this, but Luffy looked more than a little spooked and he didn't want to shut down the idea.

The boy looked marginally relieved, and Ace inclined his head towards the front. "How about you finish that off, we can take the fries home, alright?" Ace said, pointing with his other hand at Luffy's shake. Luffy nodded, and Ace found himself holding Luffy's hand for the duration of their time there, eventually flagging down Elmy so he could pay their tab and leave.

* * *

><p>HALLOWEEN NEXT CHAPTER<br>but um yes sorry for the delay I let time get away from me  
>next chapter is a treat pomise<p> 


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